Solitary or usually suckering spotted aloe from South Africa with a 3-7 branched inflorescence. Widespread and variable in habitat and cultivation. Leaves reach up to 12 inches long in the landscape and are relatively wide. Lower surfaces of leaves have fewer or no spots. Flowers may be pink, orange, yellow or red, and are constricted above the base, with barely exserted stamens. Racemes are densely flowered, flat-topped, and capitate.

Very common (possibly the most common spotted aloe) in cultivation, and a parent of many hybrids. It may be difficult to distinguish the maculate aloes in general, as well as distinguish hybrids of maculata from the species. Hybrids with A. striata (relatively common and attractive plants) are often sold as A. striata, but they are spotted, whereas striata is not.

Usually an easy plant in cultivation. Tolerant of many errors. Somewhat weedy (prone to clumping and invading space around it). Susceptible to the aloe mite (look for and carefully remove distorted flower stalks or warty leaves).

Aloe saponaria is an old name for this plant. Aloe maculata has absorbed the former A. latifolia, leptophylla, maculosa, and umbellata. Ficksburg Aloe (Aloe maculata subsp. ficksburgensis) is a smaller plant.

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Aloe maculata is native to Southern and Eastern Africa and was formerly known as Aloe saponaria ( the sap from the leaves makes a soapy lather.) This Aloe has become a popular landscape and house plant around the world. Like other Aloes, A. maculata has very sharp teeth along the leaf margins. Flowers are variable in color, ranging from bright red to yellow and are borne in clusters on top of tall, multi branching stems. Aloe maculata is salt tolerant, making it a good plant for seaside gardens. It produces many offsets and the plant can become invasive in warm climates.

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"Aloe maculata (commonly known as the Soap Aloe or Zebra Aloe) is a Southern African species of aloe.

In addition, it is now planted around the world as a popular landscape plant in warm desert regions - especially in the United States, where it is the most popular ornamental aloe in the Tucson, Arizona area, and is also popular in California.

It is a very variable species and hybridizes easily with other similar Aloes, sometimes making it difficult to identify. The leaves range in colour from red to green, but always have distinctive "H-shaped" spots. The flowers are similarly variable in colour, ranging from bright red to yellow, but are always bunched in a distinctively flat-topped raceme. The inflorescence is borne on the top of a tall, multi-branched stalk and the seeds are reputedly poisonous.

The juice from the leaves is traditionally used as soap by local people.

Plants are damaged by temperatures below 32°F (0°C), but recover quickly. In a suitable climate, soap aloes require little attention once established. Aloe maculata is very salt tolerant — a good choice for seaside gardens."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...

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