Is Aloe Vera in the Plant Kingdom?

A "kingdom" is a taxonomic label used to classify and categorize living things. Scientists group everything into five or six different kingdoms. Plantae, or the plant kingdom, is one such, and contains the Aloe vera plant.

Biological Classification

• Scientists classify biological entities by a series of descending levels. The exact number of these sometimes varies, but generally falls into the following hierarchy: a specific species is found within a genus, which is a subset of a family, which is a subset of an order. Orders are usually parts of classes, which are parts of phylum, which are found within kingdoms.

Classifying Aloe

• The species Aloe vera is part of the Aloe genus, which falls within the family of Asphodelaceae. This is part of the order of Asparagales, which are monocots, one of the two major categories of angiosperms, or flowering plants. This diverse group is a direct subcategory of plantae, the plant kingdom.

Properties of Aloe

• While there are many ways of determining whether something is indeed a plant, one of the most basic methods is by asking whether it performs photosynthesis---the conversion of carbon dioxide into useful organic compounds. Aloe vera performs photosynthesis and is therefore a plant.