Aloe vera and agave look similar, so people often confuse them. In fact, just by comparing them, you will know that they are different and it is not difficult to distinguish them. The main thing they have in common is that they are all perennial evergreen succulent plants with short stem nodes, thorns on the edges and tops, and white powder on the leaves. But there are many differences between them. The list is as follows: This is the picture accompanying this article. Comparison of aloe vera and agave. 1. The leaves are different. The leaves of aloe vera have no tendons when broken, and will ooze sticky juice with a yellow color. The fleshy part is crystal clear. Although the leaves of agave are fleshy, there are thin linear tendons inside after the leaves are broken, and the juice will not flow out and they will not look transparent. 2. The methods of leaf emergence are different. Aloe vera is separated from the small leaves, and the innermost leaves can be clearly seen. The outermost leaf of agave wraps the inner leaves, which is cone-shaped and grows outward layer by layer. 3. The thorns are different. The thorns of aloe vera are a bit soft, and you can feel it by touching it with your hands. The thorns grow toward both sides, and the thorns get smaller toward the top. The hooks on the edges of agave leaves are hard and pointed, and there is a hard dark brown thorn on the top of the leaf. 4. Flowers and fruits are not the same. Aloe vera is a raceme inflorescence that grows from the leaves. The florets are densely packed, orange-yellow with yellow spots, the calyx is green, and the fruit is triangular. The inflorescence of agave is conical, light yellow-green, and the fruit is oval or spherical. 5. In terms of biological taxonomy, their families and genera are different. Aloe belongs to the Liliaceae family (Note 1) and the genus Aloe; while agave belongs to the Agave family and the genus Agave. Although the plant shapes of Aloe vera and Glossi are similar, their species classifications are different and the material components they contain are very different. Note that agave is poisonous and can only be used for ornamental purposes, not edible or medicinal. Of course, there are only a few types of aloe vera that can be eaten, such as Aloe vera, Aloe vera from China, and Aloe arborescens. Most varieties are only for viewing. Some varieties of aloe vera, such as the common aloe vera, are still poisonous and may cause adverse reactions or even be life-threatening if ingested. Therefore, we cannot eat all aloe vera or even plants that just look like aloe vera just because aloe vera is good. We must distinguish the varieties.