There are three "major" medicinal Aloes: Aloe arborescens (seriously people, if you live in SoCal, use this!), Aloe saporina, and Aloe vera. These are the standard, "put it on what hurts" Aloes, good for burns, scrapes, and other topical ailments. There are many other species used for other reasons (purgatives and laxatives are common!).

In reality, most stuff sold at supermarkets is just the inner gel of the leaf with some other stuff mixed in. The thing is, most of the "medicinal" compounds are in the yellowish sap than runs more in the skin of the Aloe than in the middle, clear gel. If you've ever used real leaves instead of a supermarket bottle, you'd have found that it is much more effective, but leaves a yellowish, sticky residue that would be too uncivilized for something sold in the beauty department.

So would A. maculata work? Probably, since the inner leaf gel is mostly just water in all species, and the supermarket bottles are mostly just water too. Then again, it is possible that it has some sort of compound in it that might actually irritate your skin. Depending on how much of a gambler you are (and how much extra A. maculata you have laying around) it may be worth a shot.

Then again, I'm not even remotely a doctor, so maybe I'm not the best person to be listening to!

Whoa there! Be careful how you use Aloe plants and products. Do not use Aloe maculata (saponaria) for soothing skin. It can cause dermatitis in sensitive people.

Aloe maculata is not usually called a 'medicinal aloe'. It has a caustic sap that is a skin irritant, not an emollient. It is called the 'soap aloe' because the sap foams in water, and can be used as soap.

There are two different components to medicinal Aloe leaves. The inner yellow lining contains a powerful laxative. This was the original reason for the cultivation of Aloe vera by the people of the Arabian desert (lack of water leads to dangerous and painful constipation). The use of the inner gel as skin soother for burns and other skin ailments was a secondary purpose.

Aloe vera has been cultivated for so long that there is no 'wild' population in nature. The name 'Aloe vera' is applied to a wide range of plants, most hybrids with red flowers. The 'true' Aloe vera (barbadensis) has yellow flowers, and is relatively rare.

See! I warned you not to listen to me!!! :-)

I mistakenly put A maculata on my young sons burn and he howled . He wasn't howling before the "medicine" but after it. There is aloe and then there is aloe. Bulbines are also good for burns .