| Gasteria acinacifolia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gasteria acinacifolia plants in the wild | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asphodelaceae |
| Subfamily: | Asphodeloideae |
| Genus: | Gasteria |
| Species: | G. acinacifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Gasteria acinacifolia (J.Jacq.) Haw. | |
Gasteria acinacifolia ("Dune Gasteria") is succulent plant native to the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. [1]
It is the tallest of the Gasteria species (even larger than its close relative to the east, Gasteria excelsa ), with rosettes of light-green, sharp, stiff, spotted leaves, that are up to 1 meter long. The species name "acinacifolia" means "scimitar-leaves", and refers to how the smooth adult leaves curve, and end in a sharp point. The multi-branched inflorescence is often over a meter in height, with pink flowers and appears between September and December. The inflorescence is flat-topped (unlike that of Gasteria excelsa ) and has racemes that spread horizontally.
It can be confused with Gasteria excelsa to the east, but G.excelsa has thicker, wider, straighter, smoother, darker leaves, that have fewer spots and much sharper, heavily serrated margins, as well as a more erectly branching inflorescence.
It can be confused with Gasteria carinata to the west too, but G.carinata in its typical form has much smaller leaves and a non-branching inflorescence.
Like most Gasteria species, juvenile G. acinacifolia plants look very different from adults. Juveniles have a distichous (two-ranked) leaf arrangement, with tubercled, strap-shaped, blunt leaves. Adults form rosettes of extremely long, smooth, sharply-pointed "scimitar-shaped" leaves which are green and extremely densely covered in bands of tiny white spots. The leaves also have rough partial margins.
It occurs on shady cliff faces and in dune thickets, along the coast, between Knysna and Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This is a region of moderate rainfall all year round.
It is often cultivated for coastal gardens or as a container plant.
Haworthia is a large genus of small succulent plants endemic to Southern Africa (Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini and South Africa).
Gasteria is a genus of succulent plants, native to South Africa and the far south-west corner of Namibia.
Gasteria excelsa is a succulent plant, native to the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Aloe ferox, commonly known as bitter aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. This woody aloe is indigenous to southern Africa. It is one of several Aloe species used to make bitter aloes, a purgative medication, and also yields a non-bitter gel that can be used in cosmetics.
Gasteria armstrongii is a dwarf succulent plant native to South Africa, in the genus Gasteria.
Haworthia mirabilis is a species of the genus Haworthia belonging to the family Asphodelaceae.
Aloe reynoldsii is a species of plant in the Asphodelaceae family.
Crassula capitella, is a perennial succulent plant native to southern Africa.
Aloe pluridens is an arborescent aloe indigenous to southern Africa.
Aloe rupestris is an arborescent aloe indigenous to summer-rainfall areas of southern Africa.
Gasteria bicolor is a species of succulent flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae, native to the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Gasteria nitida, the Bathurst gasteria, is a succulent plant, native to the Eastern Cape grasslands of South Africa.
Gasteria carinata is a small and variable succulent plant, native to the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Gasteria brachyphylla is succulent plant native to the Western Cape, South Africa.
Gasteria croucheri is a succulent plant, native to KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.
Gasteria tukhelensis is a species of succulent plant, native to the Tugela River valley, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.
Gasteria baylissiana, Suurberg gasteria, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae, native to the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Gasteria glauca, the Kouga gasteria, is a succulent plant, native to the cliffs above the Kouga river, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Gasteria pulchra is a succulent plant, restricted to a locality in the Albany thickets vegetation of the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Gasteria polita, the polished gasteria, is a recently discovered succulent plant, restricted to a locality in the Afro-temperate forest of the Western Cape, South Africa.
