Aloe succotrina forms robust clumps of its very attractive rosettes with their erect, grey-green leaves and the light coloured teeth that only occur on the cartilaginous marginal border. The leaves are occasionally spotted. The plant is stemless when young and develops procumbent stems of up to a metre in some mature plants. Flowers are red to pink, blooming on single or once branched conical racemes in late winter.
As far as gardening is concerned, apart from its popularity in the winter rainfall area (it does not relish the summer rainfall gardens), this plant is recorded as providing a good purple dye from its leaf sap (Van Wyk and Gericke, 2007; Jeppe, 1969).