Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f., Xanthorrhoeaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Aloe barbadensis Mill.; Aloe vulgaris Lam.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: lu hui

English: aloès vulgaire, Barbados aloe, Curaçao aloe, true aloe, West Indian aloe

Maori (Cook Islands): ‘āroe, ‘āroe, ‘āroe, ‘āroe, ‘āroevera, ‘arovera

Samoan: aloe, aloe

Spanish: acibar, aloe, sávila

Tahitian: rapahoe

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants short-stemmed or stemless, producing basal offshoots, glabrous, leaves succulent, in dense rosette, narrowly dagger-shaped, light green, often spotted with white, filled with clear gelatinous matrix, 15-60 x 3-8 cm, base sheathing, tapering to long acute apex, cartilaginous margin bearing stout teeth 1-1.5 cm apart; inflorescences usually unbranched, axillary racemes to 1 m long, floriferous in distal half; flowers solitary, subtended by a scarious bract 4-5 mm long, pedicel 3-4 mm long, corolla tubular, light orange or yellow, tepals 6, linear-elliptic, 25-28 x 4-5 mm, connate in basal 1/3, stamens and style included, ca. 25 mm long; fruit capsular, 15-17 x 7-8 mm, trigonous, splitting into 3 segments"  (Lorence, Flynn & Wagner, 1995; p. 21).

Habitat/ecology:  In New Caledonia, "Espèce commune dans les jardins, parfois comme plante ornementale mais surtout en sa qualité de "plante a brûlures"; la sève cale en effet rapidement la douleur et permet une guérison sans cicatrice" (MacKee, 1994; p. 92).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Canary Islands (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced cultivated	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 473, 519, 551) "Es una planta vigorosa que se encuentra en unos pocos jardines del pueblo de San Jan Bautista en RC".
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Aitutaki Atoll	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Baltra Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia Kosrae Island	Kosrae Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy (2010) (p. 7)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 21) "On dry cliffs in secondary shrubland". Vouchers cited: D. Lorence & T. Flynn 7430 (PTBG), M. Chapin et al. 3 (PTBG) Setting fruit and also spreading from basal offshoots.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank (2011) (p. 5) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H30922 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (pp. 4-5) West Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H10129 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wysong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. (2007) (p. 1) Voucher cited: Wysong 765 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Herbarium Pacificum Staff (1999) (p. 3) Voucher cited: G. Staples & B. Pope 1154 (BISH) "Spreading vegetatively and also setting limited amounts of fruit".
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 103)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 19) Potted plants.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 92) Vouchers cited: MacKee 12821, Nothis 279 (NOU)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	cultivated	Merrill, Elmer D. (1925) (p. 204) Cultivated for ornamental and medicinal purposes.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced invasive cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Cultivated for medicinal uses, and perhaps naturalized in the hot, dry Yuan Jiang valley in S Yunnan.
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 365)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 12) Cultivated only

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced cultivated	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 103)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011) Texas
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Aloe vera is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Aloe vera as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Aloe vera may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Herbarium Pacificum Staff. 1999. New Hawaiian plant records for 1998. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1998. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 58:3-11.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy. 2010. Checklist of the plants of Kosrae. Unpublished checklist. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 26 pp.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2011. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1925. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 1 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 463 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank. 2011. New Hawaiian plant records for 2009. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2009-2010. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 110:5-10.

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2003. New plant records from Maui and Hawai‘i Counties. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 73:3-30.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

Swarbrick, J. T. 1997. Environmental weeds and exotic plants on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: a report to Parks Australia. 101 pp. plus appendix.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Whistler, W. A. 2000. Plants in Samoan culture: The ethnobotany of Samoa. Isle Botanica. 234 pp. ISB: 0-9645426-6-8.

Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. 1999. Botanical survey of the United States of America Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Islands. Prepared for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and the U. S. Army Environmental Center. 111 pp.

World Health Organization. 1998. Medical plants in the South Pacific. Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila. 254 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Wysong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. 2007. New Hawaiian plant records for the island of Moloka‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:1-8.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).