any chiefly African shrub belonging to the genus Aloe, of the lily family, certain species of which yield a fiber
any aloe of the species Aloe vera, the fleshy leaves of which yield a juice used as an emollient ingredient of skin lotions and for treating burns
any New World plant of the genus Agave, requiring many years to mature and blooming once before dying, esp. the widely cultivated species A. americana, having leaves in a basal rosette and a tall flower stalk