• Aloe vera is a stemless or very short-stemmed plant growing to 60–100 centimetres spreading by offsets.

• The leaves are thick and fleshy, green to grey-green, with some varieties showing white flecks on their upper and lower stem surfaces.

• The margin of the leaf is serrated and has small white teeth. The flowers are produced in summer on a spike up to 90 cm tall, each flower being pendulous, with a yellow tubular corolla 2–3 cm long.

• Like other Aloe species, Aloe vera forms arbuscular mycorrhiza, a symbiosis that allows the plant better access to mineral nutrients in soil