Plant in full coastal sun or light shade with occasional to little irrigation. Hardy to 20-25 degrees F.

This is the name associated with the common grocery store variety of Medicinal Aloe that became popular in the nursery trade because its suckering nature made it easy to rapidly propagate large numbers. It is somewhat similar to what is considered the "true" Aloe vera, which is more solitary with longer leaves lacking the white spots and has yellow flowers but there has long been debate on this subject. There is some thought is that this plant maybe a hybrid or form of Aloe officinalis or Aloe massawana from Tanzania – it has also gone under the invalid name Aloe indica.

Both this plant and the true Aloe vera are useful for medicinal purposes but we feel the true yellow flowering species is a far better landscape plant. The specific epithet itself adds interestingly to this story as it is the Latin word meaning "true" or "genuine". This name was given to this plant in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus when he first named it as Aloe perfoliata var. vera and this name was raised to the specific level in 1768 by Nicolaas Laurens Burman. It has also been called Aloe barbadensis and common names include Chinese Aloe, Indian Aloe, True Aloe, Barbados Aloe, Burn Aloe and First Aid Plant. 

Information displayed on this page about Aloe vera var. chinensis is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.