Gasteria batesiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gasteria batesiana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gasteria batesiana in cultivation | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asphodelaceae |
| Subfamily: | Asphodeloideae |
| Genus: | Gasteria |
| Species: | G. batesiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Gasteria batesiana Rowley | |
Gasteria batesiana, or knoppies gasteria, is a species of succulent plant native to the inland escarpment in the far north-east of South Africa.[1]
This relatively small, variable species of Gasteria has rough, pointed leaves, that eventually form a rosette (though leaves in seedlings are distichous as with all Gasterias). The mottled leaves usually have a strong keel, meaning that they are triangular in cross-section. They also have many tiny white spots, which occur in bands, giving a faint row of stripes on the leaves surfaces.
It is closely related to the Natal gasteria (Gasteria croucheri), which occurs just to the south in KwaZulu-Natal. The distinctive variety of Gasteria batesiana which seems to be transitional between these two species, is now considered as a separate (though transitional) species in its own right, Gasteria tukhelensis.
