''Aloe maculata'' ( syn. ''Aloe saponaria''), the soap aloe or zebra aloe, is a

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

n species of

aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wi ...

. Local people in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

know it informally as the ''Bontaalwyn'' in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

, or ''lekhala'' in the Sesotho language.

Description

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

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...

s are similarly variable in colour, ranging from bright red to yellow, but are always bunched in a distinctively flat-topped

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are forme ...

is borne on the top of a tall, multi-branched stalk and the seeds are reputedly poisonous.

Taxonomy

This species was previously known as ''Aloe saponaria'' (a name that came from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''"sapo"'' meaning soap, as the sap makes a soapy lather in water). Its currently accepted name, according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), is ''Aloe maculata'' (''"maculata"'' means speckled or marked). Taxonomically, it forms part of the ''Saponariae'' series of very closely related ''

Aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wi ...

'' species, together with ''

Aloe petrophila ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

'', ''

Aloe umfoloziensis ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

'', ''

Aloe greatheadii ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

'' and ''

Aloe davyana ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

''.Reynolds, G.W. 1950. ''The aloes of Southern Africa.'' Balkema, Cape Town.

Distribution

The soap aloe is highly adaptable and is naturally found in a wide range of habitats across

, from

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

in the north, to the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Ca ...

in the south. Specifically, it is native to southern and eastern

, south-eastern

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...

and

. In addition, it is now planted around the world as a popular landscape plant in warm desert regions – especially in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, where it is the most popular ornamental aloe in the

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

area, and is also popular in California.

Uses

This plant gel is used traditionally as a remedy for many medicinal properties by local people like: Skin complains, inflammation, respiratory system, muscular-skeletal system, poisoning, circulation and endocrine system diseases.

Cultivation

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 saponaria
at University of Arizona Pima County Cooperative Extension Aloe maculata is very salt tolerant — a good choice for seaside gardens.Aloe saponaria
at Floridata A hybrid between ''A. maculata'' and '' A. striata'' is very popular in the gardening trade and is used for water-wise landscaping worldwide. ''Aloe maculata'' (and some of its many hybrids) are low-growing and propagate by suckers. If permitted, they form a useful ground cover in arid regions. Its spotted leaves are attractive even when the plants are not in flower, but the flowers produce a fine show for several weeks in summer. Pollinators, both birds and insects, visit the flowers avidly for nectar and pollen. Image:Aloe saponaria 3.jpg, The distinctive flat-topped flower-heads of ''Aloe maculata'' are one of the surest ways of identifying this plant. Image:Aloe saponaria 2005 05 21.jpg, Leaves. Image:Aloe maculata IMG 1810.JPG, Aloe maculata is valuable as a flowering groundcover in arid regions

References

External links

Aloe saponaria
at University of Arizona Pima County Cooperative Extension
Aloe saponaria
at Floridata

at Aloes of the Huntington Gardens {{Taxonbar, from=Q135018 maculata Flora of Southern Africa Garden plants