The coral aloe's specific epithet, striata, means "stripes", and refers to the long lines (sometimes very faint) on its blue-green leaves.

The leaves of this Aloe are not toothed, but have a smooth pink margin.

Due to the similarity of their species names, Aloe striata is sometimes confused in literature with Aloiampelos striatula (syn.

This species is often confused with its close relative, Aloe reynoldsii, and they do look very similar.

However the coral aloe has smooth leaf margins and red flowers; while Aloe reynoldsii has waxy, toothed leaf margins and yellow flowers.