Gasteria carinata

Gasteria carinata
Gasteria carinata in cultivation
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Xanthorrhoeaceae
Subfamily:	Asphodeloideae
Genus:	Gasteria
Species:	G. carinata
Binomial name
Gasteria carinata (J.Jacq.) Haw. / (Mill.) Duval

Gasteria carinata (previously classed as "Gasteria verrucosa" or "Gasteria retusa") is a small and variable succulent plant, native to the Western Cape Province, South Africa.^[1]

Description

Gasteria carinata flowers

Early botanical drawings of the species.

This is a highly variable species. Typically it has sharp, triangular leaves, mottled in colour and channeled on their upper surface. The leaves have sharp points at their tips. The tiny spots on the leaves are arranged in bands, giving the leaves faint stripes (similar to Gasteria batesiana).

It is proliferous and can form dense clumps.

Distribution

The natural range of this species is the southern stretch of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Here it occurs in rocky areas in Renosterveld and Fynbos vegetation, between Hermanus and Mossel Bay.^[2][3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gasteria carinata.

References