| Gasteria rawlinsonii | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gasteria rawlinsonii, the distichous (non-spiral) variety | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asphodelaceae |
| Subfamily: | Asphodeloideae |
| Genus: | Gasteria |
| Species: | G. rawlinsonii |
| Binomial name | |
| Gasteria rawlinsonii Oberm. | |
Gasteria rawlinsonii is succulent plant of the genus Gasteria native to South Africa.
It is one of the most unusual of the Gasteria species, as it grows long leafy stems of up to 2 meters, which often hang down. It is also unusual in that its leaves are sometimes edged with tiny black teeth, unlike other Gasteria species.
One variety has distichous leaves, while in another the leaves spiral.
The inflorescences have pink flowers, and appear throughout the year, but mainly in Spring (between August and October).
This species is restricted to the Baviaanskloof mountains, in the Willowmore District of the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Here it tends to grow hanging on cliff faces in shady ravines, growing in well-drained sandstone soils, usually on the shady south-facing cliffs. Rainfall is sparse (c.200–300 mm per annum), and occurs slightly more in the summer. The surrounding habitat is Albany thicket.
It has become popular in cultivation, as a slow-growing ornamental plant, for semi-shade landscaping. [1]
Recent phylogenetic studies have suggested that this species, with the smallest genome of any member of Gasteria, is likely a unique and primitive outlier in the genus, relatively distinct from the other species.
This possibility is supported by its natural habitat being in the centre of the wider distribution of Gasteria, and by a range of other differences that make this species unique in its genus. It is unique in its growth habit; its leaves are sometimes toothed; it does not easily propagate by leaf-cuttings; and it has no leaf maculation. [2]
Natural variation in the wild have resulted in several cultivars:
Ansellia is considered a monotypic genus of orchid, with only one species, Ansellia africana, commonly known as African ansellia or leopard orchid, however, it may in fact be a complex group of species which share common floral structure and growth habit.
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.
Genlisea margaretae is a carnivorous species in the genus Genlisea native to areas of Madagascar, Tanzania, and Zambia. It has pale bundles of root-like organs up to about 20 cm long under ground that attract, trap, and digest protozoans. These organs are subterranean leaves, which lack chlorophyll. It had been known to possess the smallest known genome of any flowering plant as of 2006, but was later surpassed by the related species Genlisea tuberosa.
Aloe polyphylla, the spiral aloe, kroonaalwyn, lekhala kharetsa, or many-leaved aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Aloe that is endemic to the Kingdom of Lesotho in the Drakensberg mountains. An evergreen succulent perennial, it is well known for its strikingly symmetrical, five-pointed spiral growth habit.
Gasteria excelsa is a succulent plant, native to the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Gasteria armstrongii is a dwarf succulent plant native to South Africa, in the genus Gasteria.
Kumara plicatilis, formerly Aloe plicatilis, the fan-aloe, is a succulent plant endemic to a few mountains in the Fynbos ecoregion, of the Western Cape in South Africa. The plant has an unusual and striking fan-like arrangement of its leaves. It may grow as a large multistemmed shrub or as a small tree. It is one of the two species in the genus Kumara.
Haworthia truncata, locally known as horse's teeth, is a species of succulent plant in the genus Haworthia. It is found in the Little Karoo region, in the far east of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Haworthia mirabilis is a species of the genus Haworthia belonging to the family Asphodelaceae.
Haworthiopsis tessellata, formerly Haworthia tessellata, is a species of the genus Haworthiopsis belonging to the family Asphodelaceae. It has been considered a subspecies of its close relative, Haworthiopsis venosa.
Astroloba corrugata is a small succulent plant of the Astroloba genus, endemic to the Little Karoo and the far south of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Aloe pluridens is an arborescent aloe indigenous to southern Africa.
Gasteria acinacifolia is succulent plant native to the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Gasteria pillansii is succulent plant native to the arid winter-rainfall regions in the far west of South Africa and Namibia.
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 croucheri is a succulent plant, native to KwaZulu-Natal Province, 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.
Dudleya cymosa subsp. marcescens is a species of summer-deciduous succulent plant known commonly as the marcescent dudleya or marcescent liveforever. Throughout the months of spring, it is characterized by a bloom of small, bright-yellow flowers with 5 petals, tinged with orange or red. It is a leaf succulent with a basal rosette, with the foliage withering in summer, going completely leafless, a neotenous trait in the genus. This species is endemic to the exposed volcanic rock of the Santa Monica Mountains in California, being found on shady slopes and outcroppings. It differs from its local congeners with its deciduous habit, slender caudex, and narrower leaf shape, although it is superseded in some of these characteristics by Dudleya parva, growing 13 km to the north, which has even narrower leaves and is quicker to lose them. Because of its restricted distribution and small size, it is vulnerable to habitat degradation and disturbance from acts of graffiti and rock climbers. It is listed as threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
