Local people in South Africa know it informally as the Bontaalwyn in Afrikaans, or lekhala in the Sesotho language.

The flowers are similarly variable in colour, ranging from bright red to yellow, but are always bunched in a distinctively flat-topped raceme.

This species was previously known as Aloe saponaria (a name that came from the Latin "sapo" meaning soap, as the sap makes a soapy lather in water).

[2] The soap aloe is highly adaptable and is naturally found in a wide range of habitats across Southern Africa, from Zimbabwe in the north, to the Cape Peninsula in the south.

[5] A hybrid between A. maculata and A. striata is very popular in the gardening trade and is used for water-wise landscaping worldwide.