| 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 ("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 .
It is the most northerly of all Gasteria species, occurring from northern KwaZulu-Natal province, northwards through Eswatini and Mpumalanga, as far north as the Olifants River in Limpopo Province. Here it occurs in rocky terrain in bushveld vegetation.
It is an variable species. Plants from the Barberton area are almost black in colour, while plants from the Mzimduzi river have almost smooth leaves, and those from Sifula in the south have very fine tubercles. The two recognised varieties are:
South Africa occupies the southern tip of Africa, its coastline stretching more than 2,850 kilometres from the desert border with Namibia on the Atlantic (western) coast southwards around the tip of Africa and then northeast to the border with Mozambique on the Indian Ocean. The low-lying coastal zone is narrow for much of that distance, soon giving way to a mountainous escarpment that separates the coast from the high inland plateau. In some places, notably the province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east, a greater distance separates the coast from the escarpment. Although much of the country is classified as semi-arid, it has considerable variation in climate as well as topography. The total land area is 1,220,813 km2 (471,359 sq mi). It has the 23rd largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 1,535,538 km2 (592,875 sq mi).
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean and sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, with slightly fewer residents than Gauteng.
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Gasteria is a genus of succulent plants, native to South Africa and the far south-west corner of Namibia.
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