"A Curious Herbal", Plate 333. The aloe appears in Egyptian carvings and was used by the Ancient Greeks to heal wounds. The juice of its fleshy leaves is still used externally for burns, scrapes, and sunburn. Aloe is a genus containing over 500 species of flowering succulent plants in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe", so called because, though probably extinct in the wild, it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Elizabeth Blackwell (1707-1758) was a famed Scottish illustrator and author who was best known as both the artist and engraver for the plates of "A Curious Herbal" (1737). A herbal is a book of plants, describing their appearance, their properties and how they may be used for preparing ointments and medicines.