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Description: Soap aloe grows in a (usually)
stemless, clumping
rosette, that often overgrown in succulent gardens. The main rosette
gets up to 30/45cm tall and just as wide. The
lance-shaped leaves are thick pale green spotted (with linear spots-
almost streaked) foliage sometimes has reddish tinge and 25-30 cm long.
The leaf
margins are armed with prominent dark brown
teeth.
Flowers: Throughout much of the
summer, soap aloe sends up a purplish elegantly elaborate
candelabrum-like stalk about 60/90 m tall, bearing showy
tubular yellow, orange or red flowers (first bloom is best). Flowers
are often, but not always
branched and
flowers head is a flatted
globe in shape. Individual flowers are 5-7cm long.
NOTE:
The
sap from the
juicy leaves makes suds in water and can be used as a soap
substitute, but
contrarily to the medicinal A. barbadensis
(A. vera), its sap should not
be used on the
wound
skin,
as it is irritating and can provoke dermatitis in sensitive people.
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Cultivation: Very easy to grow and adaptable need a
mineral soil with good
drainage.
Light:
Full sun to
partial shade. Plants grown in partial shade usually look
healthier and more
succulent.
Moisture: This aloe is very
tolerant of
drought, although the tips of the leaves may wither and curl during
hot,
dry
periods. Supplemental
watering will keep the leaves plump and juicy.
Hardiness: It is damaged in
hard freezes, but recovers quickly. The leaf tips get damaged below
-2°C
Propagation: By
division of
offshoots that develop around the outside of the main rosette in
spring or by seed. Fresh seeds
germinate quickly at 18°C.
Maintenance: Removal of old flower
stalks; Divide the crowded
clumps periodically. During the
winter months, the plants should be grown cool to initiate flower
development (about 5-10°C )
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Cultivation and Mail Sale 
