Author Archives: Bruce Bayer

Haworthia Revisited – 44. Haworthia coarctata

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44. Haworthia coarctata Haw., Phil.Mag. 44:301(1824).  Baker, JLinn.Soc.Bot. 18:202(1880).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 6:f17(1936).  V.Poelln., Feddes Rep.Spec.Nov. 43:108(1938).  Bayer, Natn.Cact.Succ.J 28:80(1973):  Bayer :107(1976).  Bayer :64(1982).  Scott :48(1985).  Type: Not preserved.  Neotype (designated here): icon (K).  Epitype (ex B&M): Grahamstown to Bathurst, Smith 7092 (NBG).  H. chalwinii Marl.et Berg., Notizbl.Bot.Gart.Mus.Berl. 4:247(1906).  Type: Cape, Graaff Reinet, Marloth 4051 (K):  H. reinwardtii var. conspicua V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:210(1937).  Type: Cape, Port Elizabeth to Alexandria road, Archibald 85 in Long 346.  Not preserved:  H. reinwardtii var. fallax idem :209(1937).  H. fallax idem. 31:83(1932).  Type: Cape, Grahamstown, STE6633.  Not preserved:  H. reinwardtii var. pseudocoarctata V.Poelln., Beitr.Sukk. 2:43(1940).  H. coarctata var. haworthii fa pseudocoarctata (V.Poelln.) Res., Mems.Soc.Broteriana: Succ.Afr. 3:84(1943).  H. coarctata var. haworthii Res. ibid.:  H. coarctata var. kraussii ibid.:  H. reinwardtii var. committeesensis Smith, JS.Afr.Bot 9:93(1943).  Type: Cape, Albany Div. Smith 551 (NBG):  H. reinwardtii var. huntsdriftensis ibid. 10:14(1944).  Type: Cape, Albany Div., Smith 3849 (NBG):  H. fulva idem. 9:101(1943).  Type: Cape, Bathurst Dist., Smith 3380 (NBG):  H. musculina ibid. 14:49(1948).  Type: Cape, Bathurst Dist., Smith 5118 (NBG):  H. greenii var. silvicola ibid. 9:103(1943).  Type: Cape, Bathurst Dist., Smith 3378 (NBG).

coarctata: leaves pressed together.

Rosette to 120mm φ, caulescent, proliferating.  Leaves many, to 70 X 20mm, ratio stem diameter to leaf width 1:1.7, erect spreading or incurved, scabrid, brownish-green, usually with rounded tubercles.  Inflorescence simple or occasionally compound, to 300mm.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lower inner tepals revolute.

1982 – This is one of the stem‑forming species occurring west of the Fish River north of Grahamstown and extending to near Port Elizabeth.  It has very often been confused with H. reinwardtii as the above synonymy suggests.  However, there is a distinction based on both geographical distribution and morphological discontinuity.  This is discussed in detail in Bayer (1973).  Essentially there is a difference between the two species reflected in the number of leaves per unit length of stem.  In H. coarctata the ratio of stem diameter to leaf width is 1:1.7 while in H. reinwardtii leaf width more nearly equals stem diameter and the ratio is 1:1.2.  In H. coarctata the leaves are less densely arranged on the stem and also thicker.  Another difference is that in H. coarctata the tubercles are smaller and more smoothly rounded, whereas in H. reinwardtii they are frequently large and tend to be flattened and whiter.  H. coarctata has many striking forms and, possibly because of vegetative reproduction, populations tend to be very uniform.  The subspecies coarctata contains the var. greenii, which is a glabrous variety occurring only at Howiesonspoort.  The var. tenuis is a very slender variation with grossly elongated stems occurring near Alexandria in the south.  There are countless other forms such as that which may have been described as H. chalwinii from along the Kowie River; the beautifully silvery tubercled forms from the Salem area and the very large hexaploids from the western and northern populations.  The subsp. adelaidensis is a smaller element which occurs in the False Macchia around Grahamstown, perhaps the counterpart of H. reinwardtii var. brevicula towards the Fish River.  The var. bellula must have been an aberrant clone because no such really small forms were found on a visit to the type locality.  The western limit of H. coarctata is not known but it appears to be before the 26th line of longitude, east of Paterson, where the plants are still large and probably hexaploid.  Odd and unconfirmed collections from between here and Uitenhage, notably at Addo, suggest that depauperate forms may be found in that area.

1999 – The changes here are the abandonment of the sub-species in favour of varietal rank.  Possibly the correct solution is actually the inclusion of H. coarctata and H. reinwardtii in a single species.  It is sometimes difficult to separate the two elements and there is an indication of their single identity in the Port Alfred to Alexandria vicinity.  There  may also be a similar problem in the area above and to the west of Hunt’s Drift.  This is where the var. huntsdriftensis was collected and I was unable to find anything other than H. reinwardtii var. brevicula in that general area.  While many species and varieties have been named within this group it is obvious from those and from new collections, that an endless array of different forms could be selected.  This is in fact what G.G. Smith was in the process of doing as testified by the species fulva and musculina and greenii var. silvicola from the one farm, Hopewell.  Smith also identified plants from this farm as H. chalwinii and the typical H. coarctata.  A similar situation occurred with the Kaffirdrift populations of H. reinwardtii.  The species citations show that Smith collected and numbered individual clones.  During the years between collection and the making of the herbarium specimen, these plants were observed and described in minute detail.  It is obvious that Smith was in the process of identifying new species and varieties from this array of material.  H. chalwinii was described from a plant sent by Marloth from Graaff-Reinet.  This is a form of H. coarctata which has a much narrower rosette with shorter stubby leaves.  I have collected similar forms along the Kowie River, and Smith’s identification for Hopewell is not the only evidence suggesting occurrence in other populations.  The most interesting new record is that by Mr Massyn in the Motherwell area of Port Elizabeth.  This record is of a large form refuting the earlier suggestion of depauperate forms to the west.  The distribution of the species is still complementary to that of H. fasciata, however, and fuller distribution records of both species are still necessary.

Dr D. Cutler (priv.comm.) said that he did not support he differences between H. coarctata and H. reinwardtii as set out by me in 1973.  However, there is no evidence against my suggestion even though Col. Scott also disregards that arrangement altogether.  If these two are correct, then the rational alternative is that only one species is involved.  This is a solution which I would accept with the proviso that the geographical subdivision of that species is possible.  The vars coarctata and adelaidensis are in two cases, viz. Hellspoort and Gowies Farm, reported from the same locality, although the latter identification is from herbarium specimens only.  H. baccata is a name given by Smith to a plant ostensibly from southwest of Stutterheim (Smith 3572, wrongly given as 3782 by myself in 1982, and as 3527 by Scott 1985).  The NBG herbarium specimen is annotated by  McClaren as an apparent introduction to the area.  It was never seen there by Smith and on visiting the given site, I could neither find it nor concede that the species could grow there.  I noted in 1982 that a specimen noted by me as Smith 3782, was also in the Berlin Dahlem herbarium, which did not accord with the NBG specimen.  Confusion is very easily sown.

a.var. coarctata
This is the main body of the species west of the Fish River.  Three taxonomic variants are recognised as is evident below.  Of these, the fa greenii is very localised.  The two varieties have more substance, but the typical variety still encompasses a substantial range of variation.  Again I see no reason to depart from the stable historical record of the species to find a neotype.

Distribution: 3325 (Port Elizabeth): Motherwell (-DA), Massyn (NBG); Addo (-DA), Fourcade 39 (NBG), Smith 2774 (NBG); Orlando (-DB), Smith 5348, Bayer 1371 (NBG).  3326 (Grahamstown): Hellspoort (-AB), Bayer 1352 (NBG); Piggot Bridge road (-AB), Britten in PRE 34837; Bushmans River Poort, Paynes farm (-AC), Archibald 5595 (PRE); Rockdale, Highlands (-AC), Dyer 2213 (BOL); Salem to Alexandria (-AD), Smith 3573, 3955, 4010 (NBG), Stayner (NBG); NE. Salem (-AD), Smith 3412, 3414, 3415 (NBG); Yellowwoods (-AD), Bayer 1372 (NBG); Howiesonspoort (-AD), Dyer 2507, 2508 (BOL), Reynolds in NBG987/34 (NBG); Rooidrift (-BA), Bayer 1367 (NBG); Fort Brown (-BA), Walton in NBG141/24 (BOL), Smith 5825 (NBG), Walton in NBG141/24; Gowie’s Farm (-BA), Smith 5625a (NBG); E. Plutosvale (-BA), Bayer 1368 (NBG); Fletcher’s Farm (-BA), Smith 5423, 5424, 5425 (NBG); E. Committees (-BB), Smith 7421 (NBG); W. Committees (-BB), Smith 551 (NBG, PRE); W. Breakfast Vlei (-BB), Smith 3959 (NBG); Brooklands (-BC), Bayer 1357 (NBG); Manley Flats (-BC), Fourcade 195, Bayer 1358 (NBG); Vaalvlei (-BC), Bayer 1360 (NBG); Hills SE. Grahamstown (-BC),  Britten in PRE 34834; 11km Grahamstown to East London (-BC), Wells 2661 (PRE); SE. Grahamstown (-BC), Smith 7092, 7092a,b,c,d,f,h (NBG); W. Hunt’s Drift (-BD), Smith 3849 (NBG ,PRE), Smith 6818, 6818a,b (NBG); Bathurst (‑BD), Smith 7092 (NBG);  Woodbury (CA), Bayer 1370 (NBG); Salem to Alexandria (-CB), Smith 3413, 3410, 3411 (NBG), Bayer 1363 (NBG); 24km W. Port Alfred (-DA), Smith 3378 (PRE); Kowie (-DA), Bayer 1359 (NBG); S. Vaalvlei (-DA), Bayer 1361 (NBG); Hopewell, 20km W. Port Alfred (-DA), Fourcade 119 (NBG), Smith 3380 (NBG, PRE), Smith 3378, 5114, 5115, 5116, 5117, 5118 5119 5120 (NBG), Bayer 1364, 1366; 24km WNW. Port Alfred (-DA), Smith 5115 (PRE); Near Ghio Bridge (-DA), Smith 7342 (NBG); Hopewell (-DA), Acocks 11054 (PRE); Glennismoyle (-DB), Smith 3416, 7491 (NBG) Fairfax (-DB), Bayer 1194 (NBG).  3327 (East London): E. Hunt’s Drift (-AC), Smith 5667 (NBG).

Inadequately located: Albany, Blackbeard in NBG 582/25; Brakfontein, Alexandria, Galpin (BOL); Alexandria, Archibald in NBG1322/37 (NBG); ex hort Marloth 4215 (PRE), Repton 61 (PRE), Whitehill (NBG).

  • Haworthia coarctata var. coarctata JDV90/46 Howiesonspoort. The density of leaf arrangement and tubercle pattern are a little different in each population.
  • Haworthia coarctata var. coarctata JDV97/76 Belmont, east of Grahamstown. Often in huge mats with individual stems to 30cm.

b. fa greenii (Baker) Bayer comb.nov.  H. greenii ssp. coarctata var. greenii (Baker) Bayer, Natn.Cact.Succ.J 28:80(1973).  Bayer :120(1976).  Bayer :65(1982).  H. greenii Baker, JLinn.Soc. 18:202(1880).  Scott :50(1985).  Type: Cape, Cooper 1860 (K):  H. peacockii Baker, JLinn.Soc. 18:202(1880).  Type: ex hort. Kew.  Not preserved:  H. greenii fa bakeri Res., Mems.Soc.Broteriana: Succ.Afr. 3:87(1943).  ex hort. Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. greenii fa minor ibid.  Type: ex hort. Lisbon.  Not preserved.

greenii: for C.G. or G.H. Green.

This variant is only known from Howiesonspoort, and the normal tubercled variety is also present both to the east and west of the specific site of this glabrous variant.  Col. Scott suggests a wider distribution but there is absolutely nothing in the herbarium record to support any notion that this is an independent entity.  Even the criteria (no tubercles) is really inconsequential in a genus where many species may have tubercled or non-tubercled variants.  The var. silvicola is obviously also an insignificant variant from the farm Hopewell where Smith collected many variants which he translated into species and varieties.

Distribution: 3326 (Grahamstown): Howiesonspoort (‑AD), Howiesonspoort, Dyer 2506, Reynolds in NBG 68038, Reynolds in NBG987/34, (BOL, NBG), Dyer 2507, 2508 (NBG), Smith 3178, 3524, 3525 5303 (NBG).

Inadequately located: ex hort. Whitehill, Smith 7448 (NBG).

  • Haworthia coarctata var. coarctata fa. greenii JDV90/46 Howiesonspoort. This form has no tubercles and its distribution is limited to a small area west of Grahamstown.

c. var. adelaidensis (V.Poelln.) Bayer comb.nov.  H. coarctata ssp. adelaidensis (V.Poelln.) Bayer, Natn.Cact.Succ.J 28:86(1973).  Bayer :94(1976).  Bayer :65(1982).  H. reinwardtii var. adelaidensis V.Poelln., Beitr.Sukk. 2:43(1940).  Type: Cape, Adelaide, Armstrong.  Not preserved.  Neotype (B&M): icon (B):  H. reinwardtii var. riebeeckensis Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 10:16(1944).  Type: Cape, Albany Div., Smith 5218 (NBG):  H. reinwardtii var. bellula ibid. 11:70(1945).  Scott, Nat.Cact.Succ.J 36:37(1981).  Scott :47(1985).  Type: Cape, Albany Div., Smith 3137 (NBG).

adelaidensis: from Adelaide, Cape.

As noted above there are two records which indicate that the typical variety, and this one, occur in close proximity.  This may also be true for a site to the southeast of Grahamstown.  The variant bellula is obviously a single clone which was collected my Miss Britten.  A second clone was annotated ‘long-leaves’.  Smith himself subsequently appears to have visited the site, or at least the near vicinity, twice.  He does not record collecting a similar plant, nor do his specimens show this.  Both myself and G. Marx have failed to find a similar clone at the given site.  There is very little difference between this variety and var. tenuis except that the latter does develop much longer stems with age.

Distribution: 3326 (Grahamstown): 8km W. Riebeek East (-AA), Smith 7399 (NBG); Willowfountain (-AA), Bayer 1355 (NBG); Near Riebeek East (-AA), Smith 5218 (BOL, NBG, PRE); Brakkloof (-AB), Marx 43 (NBG); Hellspoort (-AB), Smith 355 (NBG, PRE), Bayer 1351 (NBG); Top Plutosvale (-BA), Smith 5426, 5427, 5428, 5429, 5430 (NBG); Glendew (-BA), Smith 5421 (NBG); Gowie’s Farm (-BA), Smith 5625 (NBG); Striata Hill (-BA), Smith 2431 (NBG); Bothas Hill (-BA), Barnes (BOL); Near top Queens Road (BA), Smith 2839 (NBG, PRE); Commonage (-BC), Smith 7448 (NBG); Queens Road (‑BC), Smith 2839 (NBG), Smith 7427 (NBG); NW. Grahamstown (-BC), Smith 3137 (BOL, NBG), Smith 3137a, 5626, 5626a (NBG), Bayer 1354 (NBG); Ainsley’s Farm, Trappes Valley (-BD), Smith 6782 (NBG).

Inadequately located: Albany, Luyt in NBG307/45 (NBG); Henderson 1450 (NBG), Rennie in NBG 1268/32.

  • Haworthia coarctata var. adelaidensis JDV94/53 northwest of Grahamstown. The small form named as bellula.
  • Haworthia coarctata var. adelaidensis JDV97/65 northeast of Grahamstown. The plants do vary in size but stem-length is usually restricted.

d. var. tenuis (Smith) Bayer comb.nov.  H. coarctata ssp. coarctata var. tenuis (Smith) Bayer, Natn.Cact.Succ.J 28:80(1973).  Bayer :106(1976).  Bayer :65(1982).   H. reinwardtii var. tenuis Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 14:51(1948).  Type: Cape, Alexandria Dist. Smith 3420 (NBG).

tenuis: slender.

This variety is generally about half the diameter of the more typical variety and the leaves are more slender – which would separate it from the fa chalwinii.  There do appear to be other populations of such slender leaved forms along the lower Bushman’s River, which should be distinguishable from H. reinwardtii by both tubercle character and leaf density on the stem.

Distribution: 3326 (Grahamstown): Harvestvale, Alexandria (‑DA), Smith 3417, 3418, 3419, 3420 (NBG),  Holland 3817 (BOL).

Inadequately located: Bushmans River, Britten (NBG).

  • Haworthia coarctata var. tenuis. This relatively delicate variant is prone to die back at the leaf tips unless it is evenly watered or well shaded.
  • Haworthia coarctata var. tenuis PVB Harvestvale. Mat forming with long slender stems which are very similar to var. adelaidensis, but grow very much longer.

Haworthia Revisited – 45. Haworthia fasciata

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45. Haworthia fasciata (Willd.) Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :57(1819) in fort.  H. fasciata var. major Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :58(1819)  Haw., Revis. :54(1821).  Baker, JLinn.Soc.Bot. 18:204(1880).  Bayer :116(1976).  Bayer :66(1982).  Scott :20(1985).  Apicra fasciata Willd., Ges.Naturf.Fr.Berl.Mag. S:270(1811).  Aloe fasciata (Willd.) Salm Dyck, Monogr. 6:f15(1837).  Type: None known.  Neotype (designated here): icon, f15, Salm Dyck 6(1837).  Epitype (ex B&M): Hankey, Stayner (NBG):  Aloe fasciata var. major Salm Dyck, Monogr. 6:fl5B(1837).  H. fasciata var. major (S.D.) V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:95(1938).  Type: icon, Salm Dyck 6:f15B(1837):  H. fasciata var. subconfluens V.Poelln., Kakteenk. 9:133(1937).  H. fasciata fa subconfluens V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:95(1938).  Type: Cape, Humansdorp, Mrs I. King.  Not preserved:  H. fasciata fa ovatolanceolata idem 43:96(1938).  Type: Cape, Humansdorp, Mrs I. King.  Not preserved:  H. fasciata fa sparsa ibid. 43:96(1938).  Type: Cape, Witteklip near Uitenhage, Long 479.  Not preserved:  H. fasciata fa variabilis ibid. 43:96(1938).  Type: Cape, Elandsriver road, Cook in Long 443.  Not preserved:  H. fasciata fa vanstaadenensis ibid. 43:97(1938).  Type: Cape, Vanstaadens Pass, Long 443.  Not preserved:  H. browniana V.Poelln., Desert Pl.Life 9:102(1937).  V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44.212(1938).  H. fasciata fa browniana (V.Poelln.) Bayer :105(1976).  Bayer :66(1982).  Scott :21(1985).  Type:  Cape, Uitenhage, Armstrong.  Not preserved.  Lectotype (B&M): icon (B).

fasciata: barred.

Rosette to 150mm φ, stemless, proliferating.  Leaves 60-80, erect, to 60 X 15mm, incurved, scabrid, white tubercles on underside only.  Inflorescence simple or occasionally compound, to 300mm.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lower inner tepals revolute.

1982 – H. fasciata occurs in False Sclerophyllous Shrub vegetation around Port Elizabeth and east of the Gamtoos river valley.  Unlike H. attenuata and H. radula which have lanceolate leaves with tuberculate leaf faces, in H. fasciata the leaves are more deltoid and the leaf faces smooth.  The leaves also tend to curve inwards so that the plants can resemble young stemless rosettes of H. coarctata or H. reinwardtii.  The fa browniana occurs as only one small population north of Uitenhage which has been reported to be a vegetatively propagated clone (an interchange heterozygote; Brandham, 1981).  This form tends to be caulescent, brownish in colour, and with longer and broader leaves than is usual for the species.  H. fasciata is more difficult in cultivation than H. attenuata and this may be because it is far less proliferous and because it occurs in acid soils.

1999 – There is a curious twist in the synonomy of this species because Haworth seemed to have actually been unaware of Wiildenow’s description and applied the same epithet to a plant fortuitously the same.  It appears that his species was actually H. reinwardtii and his variety major was synonymous with Willdenow’s species.  Somebody else can resolve the synonymy in a better way if they choose.  As is also obvious from the synonymy, there is also quite a considerable variation in this species although its distribution is relatively closely confined to the Port Elizabeth area.  Plants from east of Uitenhage can be quite heavily tubercled and are more attractive in cultivation than most members of the species.  Dr. Hayashi (priv. comm.) refutes the contention that the forma browniana comprises a single clone.  Here it is no longer formally upheld as a taxon although it is an obvious variant, because recognition of variants of this kind in a consistent way would result in an excessive proliferation of names.  Although the normal distinction from H. attenuata is on the basis of a tubercle-free upper leaf surface, H. fasciata has fibres in the leaf which must constitute a more profound difference between the two species.  Fibres are also present in the leaves of H. longiana, H. coarctata and H. glauca and this character may suggest a real division in the subgenus.

Distribution: 3324 (Steytlerville): Moordenaarskloof (-CC), Stayner (NBG); W. Assegaaibos (-CC). Smith 896 (NBG); Witteklip (-CD), Fourcade 124 (NBG); Near Assegaaibos (-CD), Smith 2071 (NBG); Assegaaibos (-CD), Fourcade 2409 (BOL); E. Patensie (-DD), Smith 2907 (NBG); Gamtoos Bridge (‑DD), Stayner in NBG68720, Fourcade 10, 11 (NBG), Smith 5799, 7265a (NBG); Hankey (DD), Fourcade 9 (NBG), Smith 2295 (NBG), Smith 5745 (NBG), Stayner in KG 352/62;; N. Hankey (-DD), Smith 2929, 3693 (NBG); E. Hankey (-DD), Smith 3180, 5797, 7067 (NBG), Stayner (NBG); Hankey to Humansdorp (-DD), Smith 6812 (NBG); W. Gamtoos Bridge (-DD), Smith 5795 (NBG); NE. Zuurbron (-DD), Smith 3670 (NBG), Bayer & Bruyns 6552 (NBG).  3325(Port Elizabeth): Spring Range (-CB), Bayer 886 (NBG); Hillwacht (-CB), Bayer in KG155/73 (NBG); Uitenhage (‑CB), Stayner in NBG68919; Loerie (-CC), Fourcade 8 (NBG), Stayner (NBG); Vanstaadens Pass (-CC), Fourcade 125 (NBG), Smith 5796, 6133 (NBG); 8km W. Thornhill (-CC), Smith 2866, 3179, 3183, 3183a; 8km E. Hankey (-CC), Bayer 887 (NBG); Bulkrivier (-CC), Fourcade 123 (NBG); Thornhill (-CC), Coates (BOL); Despatch (-CD), Marloth 13166 (PRE); W. Uitenhage (-CD), Smith 706 (PRE); Korsten Hill (-DC), Smith 5798 (NBG); Port Elizabeth (-DC), Stayner (NBG); Cotswold (-DC), Branch 365 (NBG); W. Bethelsdorp (-DC), Smith 5821, 5822 (NBG); Baakens Valley (-DC), Cruden 354 (PRE); Korsten Hill (-DC), G.F. Smith 219 (PRE).

Inadequately located: Steytlerville, Compton in NBG1043/47; Nelspoort, Pearson 520; Port Elizabeth, Grey (BOL); Humansdorp, Coates (BOL); Lavis in NBG2694/27 (BOL), Smith 3241 (NBG), Stayner (NBG), Fourcade 105 (NBG).

Haworthia fasciata JDV90/56 Gamtoos Bridge. A rather large form like the variety described from Vanstadens Pass viz. “ovato-laceolata”.
Haworthia fasciata JDV94/117 east of Hankey. The upper leaf surfaces are normally without tubercles. The leaves are fibrous.
Haworthia fasciata JDV90/41 Bethelsdorp. Usually a fynbos species, many habitats in and around Port Elizabeth have been destroyed by urban sprawl.
Haworthia fasciata JDV96/58 Zuurbron. The plants here are slightly caulescent and the tubercles may form transverse bars.
Haworthia fasciata JDV90/39 north of Uitenhage. This is the robust “forma browniana”.

Haworthia Revisited – 46. Haworthia glabrata

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46. Haworthia glabrata (Salm Dyck) Baker, JLinn.Soc.Bot. 18:206(1880).  Bayer :118(1976).  Bayer :67(1982).  Smith, Aloe 26:18(1989).  Aloe glabrata Salm Dyck, Hort.Dyck. :325(1834).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 6:f13(1840).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved.  Neotype:  icon, f13, Salm Dyck.

glabrata: smooth.

Rosette stemless, proliferous, to 120mm tall.  Leaves to 80 X 15mm, attenuate, spreading, lanceolate-deltoid, scabrid with or without distinct raised non-confluent excrescences.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lower inner tepals revolute.

1982 – Strangely enough this is one of the most common haworthias found in collections despite never having been seen or collected in the wild.  The assumption has always been that it is a garden hybrid but Brandham (unpublished) maintains, on the basis of cytological examination, that this is not so.  H. glabrata is not actually smooth.  The small tubercles are concolorous and the plants are a brightish green colour.  The leaves are lanceolate as in H. attenuata but they are much rounder in cross‑section, larger at the base, and fleshier in texture.  It is very proliferous and easy to grow.

1999 – This species was discovered in the wild by P.V. Bruyns in the same general area that Aloe reynoldsii grows, and together with H. cymbiformis var. setulifera.  Thus Dr Brandhams evidence and conclusions are correct.  Dr Gideon D. Smith was fascinated by this species and wrote (1989) quite extensively about it.  There is only one other collection which could be this species, and that is the one cited below from between the Kei and Tsomo Rivers.  There is also a collection in the Bolus Herbarium from ‘Thabase near Umtata’.  This consists of a single leaf which suggests Hexangulares rather than Haworthia.

Distribution: 3228 (Butterworth): Collywobbles (-BA), Bruyns 4400 (NBG).

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Inadequately located: Between Kei and Tsomo Rivers, Holmes in BOL71340; ex hort Grenfell in NBG871/35, Smith 2004, 2770, 4943, 4944 (NBG), Bayer 170 (NBG).

  • Haworthia glabrata PVB4400 Bashee River. Only recently re-collected. The leaves are thicker and fleshier at the base than in H. attenuata.
  • Haworthia glabrata PVB4400 Bashee River. The older forms in cultivation may have had more erect leaves.

Haworthia Revisited – 47. Haworthia glauca

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47. Haworthia glauca Baker, JLinn. Soc. 18:203(1880).  V.Poelln., Cact.Succ.J(U.S.) 5:30(1936).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:108(1938).  Bayer :118(1976).  Bayer :67(1982).  Scott :49(1985).  Type: Cape, Zuurberg Pass, Cooper (K):  H. carrissoi Res., Bolm.Soc.Broteriana 15:161(1941).  Type: Cape, Zuurberg Pass.  Not preserved.

glauca: glaucous, powdery, bluish-green.

Rosette to 80mm φ, caulescent, proliferating.  Leaves many, to 60 X 15mm, erect spreading or incurved, scabrid, glaucous grey-green, with or without tubercles.  Inflorescence simple or occasionally compound, to 300mm.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight. Lower inner tepals revolute.

1982 – Baker gave the locality for H. glauca as ‘Orange Free State’ which is clearly wrong.  The actual locality is probably in the Zuurberg mountains north of Uitenhage.  This is however, only the eastern range of the species and it is not known further east than the Zuurberg Pass itself.  Up here on the mountains in sour grassveld, the plants are very much like described by Baker.  The leaves are glaucous, glabrous and incurved, while the stems are not unduly elongate.  The full distribution of the typical species is not known.  From Paardepoort in the Klein Winterhoek mountains and westwards, the species is much more variable.  The stems of the plants are usually well‑developed, the leaves may be erect or spreading and are tuberculate even if only slightly so.  This is the basis for recognising the var. herrei.  H. glauca var. herrei fa armstrongii comprises a localised population northeast of Uitenhage ‑ based on a vegetatively propagating clone.  J.R. Brown said that this form was close to ‘ H. herrei var. depauperata’ in general appearance and colour, but easily separated on the basis of having non‑confluent tubercles only on the margins and keel.  The one distinguishing feature of fa armstrongii is colour ‑ both in habitat and in cultivation it tends to be darkish green and lacks the glaucous sheen of the typical species.  The fa armstrongii can be superficially compared with H. fasciata except that it is caulescent.  It also occurs in close proximity to H. fasciata fa browniana.  Schneider (1972) showed that fa armstrongii and H. glauca were both distinguished by the absence of waxing in the stomatal chambers, and this too suggests that they belong together.  In a very recent publication, Brandham and Cutler (1981), show that the fa armstrongii is a pentaploid of probable hybrid origin, showing closer affinities to H. coarctata than to H. glauca.

1999 – There is a small discrepancy in the citation of the type as Col Scott cites ‘Zuurberg Pass, Cooper sn.’ whereas Breuer and Metzing state ‘Cape without locality’.  Although it may be supposed that the var. herrei is a discrete element, it is not possible to separate the herbarium specimens in this way.  The var. glauca comprises the smooth eastern form, but this also occurs even west of the range for the more commonly tubercled var. herrei.  The range of variation in that variety is quite considerable, as is apparent from the many species and varieties which emanated from particularly the Steytlerville area.

a. var. glauca

Distribution: 3224 (Jansenville): Fairview (-CD), Bayer 4179 (NBG); 1km N. Jansenville (-DC), Branch 321 (NBG).  3225(Somerset East): De Hoogte (-CD), Smith 3521, 5547 (NBG).  3323(Willowmore): Wilds View (-BA), Vlok 1554 (NBG).  3324(Steytlerville): Burbank (-AA), Marx 58 (NBG); 2km E. Humefield (-AA), Bayer 4168b (NBG).  3325(Port Elizabeth): Paardepoort (-AC), Archibald in NBG1320/37 (NBG), Bayer & Venter 6615 (NBG); De Plaat (-AD), Venter 91/16 (NBG); Zuurberg Pass (‑BC), Smith 12, 1183 (NBG), Marloth 4212 (PRE); Zuurberg Pass, N. Inn (-BC), Archibald 5280 (PRE).

Inadequately located: Somerset East, Smith 1184 (NBG); ex hort Ross-Frames in NBG75/44 (NBG), Britten 5748 (NBG), Henderson 1442 (NBG).

  • Haworthia glauca var. glauca JDV91/16 northeast of Kirkwood. It occurs here with tuberculate specimens.
  • Haworthia glauca var. glauca JDV90/12 Zuurgerg Pass. Without tubercles and with incurving leaves.

b. var. herrei (V.Poelln.) Bayer :122(1976).  Bayer :118(1982).  H. herrei V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 26:24(1929).  ibid., Cact.Succ.J(U.S.) 1930.  Type: Cape, STE 5682.  Not preserved.  Neotype (B&M): Campherspoort, Barker 5069 (NBG):  H. herrei var. depauperata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 31:86(1932).  Type: Sundays River, between Steytlerville and Port Elizabeth, STE 6642.  Not preserved:  H. jacobseniana V.Poelln., Desert Pl.Life 9:102(1937).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:109(1038).  Type: Cape, Jansenville, Mrs E. Jones in Triebn.944.  Not preserved:  H. eilyae V.Poelln., Kakteenkunde lO:152(1937).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:109(1938).  Type: Cape, Steytlerville Distr., Archibald 1125.  Not preserved:  H. jonesiae V.Poelln., Kakteenkunde lO:152(1937).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:109(1938).  Type: Cape, Steytlerville, Mrs E. Jones.  Not preserved:  H. herrei var. poellnitzii Res., Mems.Soc.Broteriana: Succ.Afr. 3:89(1943).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved:  H. eilyae var. poellnitziana ibidem.  Type: Cape.  Not preserved:  H. eilyae var. zantneriana idem. :90 loc.cit.  Type: Cape, STE6625.  Not preserved.  H. armstrongii V.Poelln., Kakteenkunde 10:152(1937).  ibid., Feddes Rep.Spec.Nov. 43:108(1938).  Jacobsen 2:537(1954).  H. glauca var. herrei fa armstrongii (V.Poelln.) Bayer :99(1976).  Bayer :99(1982).  Type: Cape, Adelaide, Armstrong.  Not preserved.  Lectotype (B&M): icon (B).

herrei: for Dr.H. Herre.

None of the species or varieties described here are represented by type specimens nor good locality data, and it is perhaps fortunate that it is not very important in this case.  I wrote an article for the New South Wales Study Group in 1970 which included photographs of plants collected from the Campherspoort vicinity.  The variation in the clones covered easily the characteristics attributed to the elements described: narrow stems with erect incurving leaves, wider stems with erect spreading leaves, short nearly deltoid leaves, long lanceolate leaves, tubercled or non-tubercled.  There has been some cytological evidence to suggest what relationship the fa armstrongii has to the species.  However, the results are conflicting and it is not easy to question this (or scanning electroscopy for that matter).  Brandham and Cutler (1981) report H. glauca to be ‘mostly hexaploid….but two .. were aneuploids’.  Their discussion is ambivalent as on p515 of the article they suggest there is insufficient evidence to decide its parentage, whereas on p540 they state that it cannot be a variety of H. glauca because it is pentaploid and the species is hexaploid.  The authors refer to two populations of H. glauca studied, but the list of materials cites only one (actually the var. herrei), and one for the fa armstrongii.   Riley (1959) reported H. glauca to be tetraploid and thus a pentaploid within the species is to be expected.  Finally it is now known that H. glauca is common in the area close to where fa armstrongii was originally collected.  A recent visit to the site suggests that it no longer occurs there.  Brandham and Cutler also looked at epidermal character where they conclude that fa armstrongii was closer to H. coarctata than to the Steytlerville collection of H. glauca.  This result has to be viewed in proper perspective.  It is an hypothesis based on a limited range of material and it conflicts with Schneider’s results (quoted above).  Even the casual observer could probably conclude that the most logical complement to H. coarctata, both geographically and morphologically, is H. glauca.  My own experience of ESM studies (and similar sophisticated techniques) is that not enough is done to first examine general variation, and that conclusions only apply within the narrow limits of the material studied.

Distribution: 3323 (Willowmore): Redcliffe (-BA), Bruyns 7053 (BOL); Miller (-BB), Acocks 19902 (PRE); 4km SW. Miller (-BB), Smith 3658 (NBG); 11km SW. Miller (-BB), Smith 3660; W. Knoetze (-BB), Smith 6917 (NBG); 11km Knoetze to Miller (-BB), Smith 6863 (NBG).  3324(Steytlerville): Campherpoort (-AA), Smith 7046, 7047, 7048, 7049, 7050, 7055, 7056, 7058, 7059 (NBG); 1km W. Campherpoort (-AA), Smith 3648, 3648a  (NBG); 6km W. Campherpoort (-AA), Smith 3652 (NBG); 16km W. Campherpoort (-AA), Smith 3237, 3655, 3655a Pienaarspoort (-AB), Smith 6217, 6866 (NBG); E. Campherpoort (-AB), Smith 3592 (NBG); Waaipoort (-AD), Bayer & Bruyns 6584 (NBG); Zeekoeisnek (-BC), Bayer & Bruyns 6586 (NBG); Kleinspoort (-BD), Otzen in NBG618/41 (NBG), Smith 5170 (NBG); 3km S. Kleinpoort (BD), Smith 2924, 2924a, 2924b (NBG).  3325(Port Elizabeth): Bauerskraal (-CB), Bayer & Venter 6598 (NBG); 10km NW. Uitenhage (-CB), Smith 706, 3076, 7195 (NBG), Smith 912 (NBG,PRE).

Inadequately located: Kirkwood to Jansenville, Cunningham & Cook in NBG761/31 (BOL); Steytlerville, Taute in NBG950/37, Smith 2754; Pillans in NBG356/16, Peers in NBG68046, Malherbe in NBG489/42.

  • Haworthia glauca var. herrei JDV91/16 north of Kirkwood. It is the tuberculate forms which are predominant and several varieties were described from this polymorphous species.
  • Haworthia glauca var. herrei JDV91/121 Kleinpoort. Although supposed to have spreading leaves it does not appear as though even the geographic criterion for two varieties can be justified.

Haworthia Revisited – 48. Haworthia koelmaniorum

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48. Haworthia koelmaniorum Oberm. & Hardy, Fl.Pl.Afr. :f1502(1967).  Bayer :127(1976).  Bayer :68(1982).  Scott :33(1985).  Type: TRANSVAAL‑2529 (Groblersdal): Groblersdal (‑AB), Hardy & Mauve 2267 (PRE).

koelmaniorum: of Mr and Mrs Koelman.

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, 5-7cm φ.  Leaves 14-20, dark brownish-green, opaque, somewhat recurved, scabrid with small raised tubercles, margins and keel with small spines.  Inflorescence slender, to 35cm.  Flowers slender, tepals fused and with revolute tips.

1982 – This unusual species is the most northern record in the genus, at Groblersdal in the Transvaal.  It is closely related to H. limifolia and is more prominently tuberculate.  Although described as having erect leaves, in cultivation they can recurve as in H. limifolia.  The spiral arrangement referred to in the original is not a distinctive feature.  In H. limifolia and H. venosa the angle of leaf divergence is above 160 degrees and a twin leaf spiral is often prominent.  The fact that leaves are vertically coincident in threes is purely fortuitous in such an arrangement where seven vertical parastichies will often also be detectable.  It is reported to have been collected out at its original habitat, but unconfirmed reports indicate that it is known elsewhere.  It is a slow-growing species which can be propagated from whole leaves.

1999 – Little further evidence is available concerning this species.  Although it has obviously been collected many times by collectors since first reported, nothing has found its way into the formal record.  This is a tragedy, and a repeat of the often mindless collecting frenzy in the genus Aloe during the period 1950 to about 1970.  The end-product of the average collection is a small contribution to a compost heap, and good permanent record should be regarded as some tithe towards the cost of a depleted natural stock.  Col. Scott also described H. mcmurtryi, which I regard as a smaller variant.  The similarity to the retuse Haworthias is really fortuitous and seeking such a relationship is neither realistic nor necessary.  Dr Hayashi’s suggestion (in ms.) that H. koelmaniorum is linked to H. venosa var. tessellata via a northwestern corridor is slightly more probable, but flawed for other reasons.  It has a more minutely papillate and scabrous texture than H. limifolia, and also more so than H. venosa.

a. var. koelmaniorum.

Distribution: 2529 (Groblersdal): Groblersdal (‑AB), Hardy and Mauve 2267 (PRE), Hardy in KG275/70 (NBG).

  • Haworthia koelmaniorum var. koelmaniorum JDV88/4 south of Groblersdal. Easily grown from leaf and seed so there should be no need for reliance on field collected plants.
  • Haworthia koelmaniorum var. koelmaniorum JDV92/3 Groblersdal. Selection is also necessary to get speciemens which are really attractive.

b. var. mcmurtryi (Scott) Bayer comb.nov.  Haworthia mcmurtryi Scott, Cact.Succ.J(U.S.) 56:69(1984).  Scott :140(1985).  Type: TRANSVAAL-2529(Groblersdal): Loskop, SW. Dam (-AB), McMurtry 5247 (PRE).

mcmurtryi: for Mr D. McMurtry.

This is smaller and with more prominent surface markings than the typical species.  It has recently been observed and photographed by J.M. Esterhuizen at a number of sites in the Globlersdal area, and he confirms continuity with H. koelmaniorum.

Distribution: 2529 (Groblersdal): Loskop, SW. Dam (-AB), McMurtry 5247 (PRE).

  • Haworthia koelmaniorum var. mcmurtryi JDV93/50 southwest of Groblersdal. A smaller variety with shorter, squatter leaves.
  • Haworthia koelmaniorum var. mcmurtryi JDV91/7 Loskop Dam. Unlike H. limifolia the leaves can be obsurely windowed.
  • Haworthia koelmaniorum var. mcmurtryi JDV91/7 Loskop Dam. Also quite variable regarding tubercles and venation.

Haworthia Revisited – 49. Haworthia limifolia

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49. Haworthia limifolia Marl., Trans.R.Soc.S.Afr. 1:409(1908).  Bayer :129(1976).  Bayer :69(1982).  Scott :31(1985).  Smith, Fl.Pl.Afr. 55:24 (1997).  Type: W. Delagoa Bay, Marloth 4678 (PRE):  H. limifolia var. diploidea Res., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 48:(1940).  Type: ex Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. limifolia var. tetraploidea ibid.  Type: ex hort Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. limifolia fa marlothiana Res., Bolm.Soc.Broteriana 14:200(1941):  H. limifolia var. marlothiana Res., Mems.Soc.Broteriana: Succ.Afr. 3:93(1943).  Type: ex hort Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. limifolia var. schuldtiana ibid.  Type: ex hort Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. limifolia var. stolonifera ibid., Mems.Soc.Broteriana: Succ.Afr. 3:94(1943).  Type: ex hort Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. limifolia var. stolonifera fa pimentelli ibid.  Type: ex hort Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. limifolia var. stolonifera fa major ibid.  Type: ex hort Lisbon.  Not preserved:  H. limifolia var. keithii Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 16:4(1950).  Type: Swaziland, Smith 5693 (EL, NBG).

limifolia: file‑like leaves.

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, with or without stolons, 5-7cm φ.  Leaves 12-30, light to very dark green and even brownish-green, opaque, ovate-lanceolate, spreading, scabrid with white or concolorous tubercles, or with confluent transverse ridges, margins and keel scabrid.  Inflorescence slender, to 35cm.  Flowers slender, tepals fused and with revolute tips.

1982 – H. limifolia was originally recorded from west of Delagoa Bay but there does not seem to be any confirmed record of this species in Mocambique itself.  It is reported to be in the vicinity of Maputo.  It is quite well recorded from Swaziland in the eastern mountains. and from Gollel in the south-eastern corner.  Other records include Barberton, Ndumu, Umfolozi and Paulpietersburg.  It is clearly widespread and the populations differ markedly.  It propagates very readily from stolons given optimum growing conditions, as do both H. nigra and H. venosa ssp. tessellata.  There is a record of an unusual white‑tubercled form from the Mozaan River in the south‑eastern Transvaal.  The var. gigantea is a large variety with small raised tubercles as opposed to the transverse ridges characteristic of the species.  The var. ubomboensis is entirely glabrous.  However, it has never been recollected at its purported locality east of Stegi and thus remains a mystery.  The plants are apparently sought after for their purported medicinal and magical properties and may thus be heavily exploited.

1999 – Despite a very wide distribution range, the species is really poorly known.  The herbarium record is fairly comprehensive but the species remains virtually known only from single plant collections from each locality.  The var. ubomboensis is apparently from the locality south of Stegi as indicated to me personally by Capt. Keith.  This is no doubt also the same general vicinity from which the var. keithii also came.  An interesting collection is that of a glabrous light green variant similar to var. ubomboensis from the mountains near Barberton.  This seems to be a more geographically discrete element than the original from south of Stegi.  Also interesting is the olivaceous and stoloniferous variant reported to have been collected at Hoedspruit.  A striated variant in which the tubercles are white and almost confluent in transverse bands was recognised by J. Pilbeam (1983).  This does have some substance and appears to have been collected in the Pongola area and specifically along the Mozaan River, a tributary of the Pongola River.

a.  var. limifolia.

Distribution: 2531 (Barberton): Saddleback Mt. (-CC), Stayner in KG33/71 (NBG); Near Pongola (-CC), Ross-Frames 13436 (PRE).  2631 (Hlatikulu): Mbuluzi gorge, Blue Jay ranch (-BD), Buitendag 1145 (PRE), Bayer (NBG); Vimy Ridge (-CD), Karstens in PRE39431, in NBG56413.  2632(Bela Vista): Stegi (-CA), Keith in PRE39436, PRE39438; Ubombo Ridge, 13km from Stegi (-CA), Keith in PRE34862, in PRE61130, Smith 5693 (NBG); Ubombo N. of Pongola (-CA), Keith in PRE34863; 16km S. Stegi (-CA), Keith in PRE61128 in PRE61129; Abercorn Drift (‑CC), Keith in NBG69412, Smith 5740 (NBG); Ndumu (-CD), Symons in PRE7532; Kosi Bay (-DD), Cronwright in PRE34875.  2730 (Paulpietersburg): Mozaan River near Moolman (-BA), Smith 7214 (NBG); 30km E. Paulpietersburg, Omdraai (-BD), Roos 4362 (PRE).  2731 (Pongola): Slopes of Ubombo N. Pongola (-AC), De Wet in PRE34874 Near Pongola (-BC), De Wet in PRE34858; 7km W. Gollel (-BD), Dhlamini in NBG646/59.  2832 (Hluhluwe): 8km W. Somkele, Smith 5692a (NBG).

Inadequately located: Zululand, Delagoa Bay, Marloth 4678 (PRE); SuldoSuavo, road to Moamba, Carvealho 755 (NBG).

  • Haworthia limifolia var. limifolia. Origin unknown. A very dark form, possibly from the Komatipoort area.
  • Haworthia limifolia var. limifolia JDV87/110 Mbuluzipoort. A stoloniferous and proliferous collection from forest floor habitat.

b. var. gigantea Bayer, JS.Afr.Bot. 28:215(1962).  Bayer :118(1976).  Bayer :112(1982).  Type: NATAL‑2731(Louwsberg): Nongoma (‑DA), Bayer 112 (PRE).

gigantea: very large.

The location of this variety is obscure and although I have occasionally seen large forms with the same small discrete tubercles which characterize it, I have not been able to determine their geographic origin.

Distribution: 2731 (Louwsberg): Nongoma (‑DA), Bayer 112 (PRE).

  • Haworthia limifolia var. gigantea west of Pongola. This form with the upright and incurved leaves is well known. A form with coalescing tubercles was informally described as the var. striata by J. Pilbeam.
  • Haworthia limifolia var. gigantea MBB112 north of Natal. With tubercles rather than ridges, this form can grow very large.

c. var. ubomboensis (Verdoorn) Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 16:3(1950).  Bayer :164(1976).  Bayer :69(1982).  Scott :33(1985).  H. ubomboensis Verdoorn, Fl.Pl.Afr. 21:t818 (1941).  Type:  SWAZILAND‑2632 (Bela Vista): 16km S. Stegi (-CA), Keith in PRE26392.

ubomboensis: from the Ubombo Mts.

This variety has its origin in several collections from near Stegi (including probably the var. keithii) which seem to indicate that it has no geographic base.  However, a very similar bright green glabrous form has also been collected by E. van Jaarsveld near Barberton.

Distribution: 2632 (Bela Vista): 16km S. Stegi (-CA), Keith in PRE26392, 26392b.

  • Haworthia limifolia var. ubomboensis Roux sn. Barberton. This is a very vigorous handsome grower which is also stoloniferous. A useful introduction to end the monotony of the clone predominant in cultivation.

Haworthia Revisited – 50. Haworthia longiana

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50. Haworthia longiana V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:203(1937).  Archibald, Fl.Pl.S.Afr. 22:f842(1942).  Bayer :130(1976).  Bayer :70(1982).  Scott :24(1985).  Type: Cape, between Hankey and Humansdorp, Archibald 680.  Not preserved.  Lectotype (B&M): icon (B):  H. longiana var. albinota Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 14:44(1948).  Type: Cape, Humansdorp Distr., Smith 7070 (NBG).

longiana: in honour of F. R. Long.

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, to 300mm tall.  Leaves to 300 X 20mm, long attenuate, erect incurving, surfaces minutely scabrid with small indistinctly raised tubercles, occasionally with small white tubercles.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, inner lower tepals revolute.

1982 – H. longiana was first collected in 1930 by Mr Francis Archibald, between Hankey and Humansdorp, and later named in honour of Major F.R. Long.  It is a very distinct species and also unusual.  The leaves are hard, rigid and curved.  There is an appreciable gap between the leaf bases and the rooting zone of the stem, and the offsets appear from the rooting zone.  The leaves are amplexicaul and connect around the stem as in H. viscosa with which H. longiana is known to hybridise.  It is a slow growing species apparently restricted to steep rocky conglomerate.  The flowers are typically those of the subgenus Hexangulares but the flaring tips of the perianth lobes are shorter than in most of these species and seldom exceed 4mm long.  Although known only from the Hankey/Patensie area, Mr Gordon King sent plants to Smith, tentatively identified as H. longiana, from the Great Winterberg Mountains 20km north of Uitenhage.  H. longiana forms large clumps as much as 200mm in diameter and the individual leaves may exceed 300mm in length.

1999 – There has been no notable additions to the record and this appears to be one of the least problematic of the species.  The collection by Gordon King mentioned above may be incorrectly cited because a specimen of his of H. herrei fa armstrongii (Smith 7195) is also cited as north-east of Uitenhage.  The probable correct compass direction is north-west.

Distribution: 3324 (Steytlerville): Near Quagga (‑DA), Smith 3177 (NBG); Near Mistkraal (-DA), Smith 7070, 7071 (NBG); Humansdorp (-DD), McCloughlin in PRE 34898; Patensie (-DD), Archibald in PRE 39444.  3325: 19km NW. Uitenhage (-CB), Smith 7313, 7314 (NBG).

Inadequately located: ex hort Hurling & Neil in NBG21336; SE. Hankey, Bayer in KG806/70.

  • Haworthia longiana JDV96/80 north of Patensie. This white tubercled form was described as var. albinota by G.G.Smith though the condition is fairly ubiquitous in the species.
  • Haworthia longiana JDV93/1 south of Patensie. While most Haworthias are at their best growing in the wild, this species is particularly so.
  • Haworthia longiana JDV93/1 south of Patensie. Competition for growing resources is probably the reason why the skeletal soils and habitats of the Cape are so rich in small succulents.

Haworthia Revisited – 51. Haworthia nigra

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51. Haworthia nigra (Haw.) Baker, J.Linn.Soc.Bot. 18:203(1880).  V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:209(1938).  Ibid., Kakt.u.a.Sukk. 10:170(1937).  Bayer :140(1976).  Bayer :70(1982).  Scott :29(1985).  Apicra nigra Haw., Phil.Mag.46:302(1825).  Type: Cape, Bowie.  Not preserved.  Lectotype (See Scott 1985): icon (K).  Epitype (ex B&M): Campherpoort, Barker 5099 (NBG):  H. schmidtiana V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 26:23(1929).  ibid. 41:210(1937).  ibid., Kakt.u.a.Sukk. 10:170(1937).  ibid.  Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov., 44:205(1938).  H. nigra var. schmidtiana (V.Poelln.) Uitew., Succulenta :51(1948).  Type: Cape, imported.  Not preserved:  H. schmidtiana var. angustata V.Poelln., Kakt.u.a.Sukk. 10:169(1937).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:205(1938).  H. nigra var. angustata (V.Poelln.) Uitew. loc.cit.  Type: Cape, Ladismith, Mr Joubert in Triebn. 817.  Not preserved:  H. schmidtiana var. suberecta V.Poelln., Kakt.u.a.Sukk. 10:169(1937).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:205(1938).  H. nigra var. suberecta (V.Poelln.) Uitew. loc.cit.  Type: Cape, 24km W. East London, Kluth in Triebn. 920.  Not preserved:  H. schmidtiana var. pusilla V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:240(1938).  H. nigra var. pusilla (V.Poelln.) Uitew. loc.cit.  Type: Cape, Aberdeen, Wilke in Triebn.1152.  Not preserved:  H. ryneveldii V.Poelln., Des.Pl.Life 5:88(1939).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 46:271(1939).  Type: Cape, Somerset East Armstrong.  Not preserved.

nigra: black.

Rosette usually caulescent, slowly proliferous or often stoloniferous, to 50mm tall, occasionally taller.  Leaves to 30 X 15mm, ovate-deltoid, erect or recurved-spreading, blackish to grey-green, opaque, surfaces scabrid with distinct raised non-confluent concolorous tubercles.  Inflorescence simple, lax.  Flowers erect, tepals fused, tube straight, inner lower tepals revolute.

1982 – It is not surprising that Haworth thought this species to be an Astroloba (Apicra).  The close trifarious arrangement of the leaves of particularly the northwestern forms of H. nigra however, led von Poellnitz to ignore the obvious synonymy.  Astroloba aspera (Willd.) Uitew. was originally described as trifarious and Mrs Roberts‑Reinecke (unpublished thesis, University of Cape Town) is probably correct in suggesting that this is actually an Haworthia.  H. nigra was described by Haworth as multifarious but it is apparent from many collections that the leaf tiers may vary from an obvious 3‑tiered arrangement to an indistinct multifarious one.  Similarly plants may also be comparatively stemless.  The distribution is from near East London in the southeast to north of Loeriesfontein in the northwest.  H. nigra is characterised by its very dark colour and the many flattened tubercles on the leaf surfaces.  It may propagate stoloniferously or from offsets, as does H. venosa ssp. tessellata, to which it may be closest related.

1999 – This is a prime example of the need for good records and herbarium specimens.  The only good evidence of Haworth’s original species is the Kew illustration, and this is not enough to show what the species can actually do.  Von Poellnitz landed himself in a real predicament.  It is possible on the evidence in this species (and contrary to my comment in the historical sketch) that had he lived longer he could have ended up completely stranded.  As more material comes in, so does the problem get more complex.  It is still not certain what H. aspera of Haworth might have been, and probably an argument could be made for priority over H. nigra.  There is a contemporaneous name, H. nigricans Haw., which would have page priority and which could equally apply.  The position simply is that here we have a discrete element which is very widespread and which is as variable as we all should have come to expect in the genus.  The leaves may be tightly in three erect tiers or the tiers may spiral.  The leaves may be recurved and elongated away from the stem, or short and compressed upon one another.  The plants may have very long elongated stems or be reduced to almost stemlessness.  The colour may vary from very dark green and almost black, to light grey.  The variability in the species may best be expressed as follows:-

a. var. nigra.
The typical form of the species is represented by the Kew illustration which is of a virtually stemless plant.  This represents the eastern forms with shorter stems; the leaf colour is blackish-green and the leaves are slightly loosely arranged on the stems and not obviously in three vertical tiers.  The leaves are recurved to greater or lesser degree and the tubercles are concolorous and non-confluent in longitudinal rows.

Distribution: 3124 (Hanover): Krugerskraal (-CD), Branch 316 (NBG).  3125((Middelburg): Thebus (-BC), Smith 3097 (NBG); NW. Cradock (-CD), Smith 5792 (NBG).  3126 (Queenstown): Goedemoed (-CA), Branch 24 (NBG); Tarkastad (-CD), Pringle (NBG); SW. Queenstown (-DC), Smith 5197 (NBG); Bowkers Kop (-DD), Smith 6824 (NBG); Finchams Nek (-DD), Smith 7213 (NBG).  3127(Molteno): Cofimvaba (-CD), Bruyns 4384 (BOL).  3223(Rietbron): 25km S. of Aberdeen (-DB), Acocks 19901 (PRE).  3224 (Graaff Reinett): St Olives (-AB), Bayer 2350 (NBG); Riverdale (-BA), Bruyns 1756b (NBG); Goliadskraal (-BA), Fourcade 138 (NBG); Tandjiesberg (-BC), Bruyns 2971 (NBG); Marais Siding (-CB), Bruyns 2964 (BOL); Stoepie Stn. (-CD), Rossouw 192 (NBG); 26km SW. of Pearston (-DB), Acocks 11987 (PRE).  3225(Somerset East): Lake Mentz (-AA), Smith 3522 (NBG); Rooiplaat (-AB), Branch 32 (NBG); Swagershoek (-AD), James (BOL); Halesowen (-BB), Smith 2291, 5338 (NBG); Mortimer (-BC), Kensit (BOL): Waterdown Dam (-BD), Bayer & Bruyns 6568 (NBG); E. Cookhouse (-DB), Fourcade 84 (NBG); 3km E. Cookhouse (DB), Long 1029 (PRE); Eastpoort (-DB), Smith 3490 (NBG).  3226 (Fort Beaufort): Bedford (-AC), Pringle (NBG); Adelaide (-CB), Bayer & Bruyns 6575 (NBG); Middeldrift (-DD), Immelman in NBG1883/28.  3227 (Kingwilliamstown): N. Waku (-AA), Smith 5717, 5717a (NBG); Waku (-AA), Pillans 849 (BOL); NW. Cathcart (-AA), Smith 3632 (NBG); Tylden (-AA), Smith 359 (NBG); Goshen (-AC), Branch 21 (NBG); Tsomo (-BB), Branch 14 (NBG).  3322 (Oudtshoorn): Sleutelfontein (-AB), Bruyns 2610 (NBG).  3324(Steytlerville): Campherspoort (‑AA), Barker 5099 (NBG), Smith 7060 (NBG); E. Twowaters (-BC), Smith 2917 (NBG); Kleinpoort (-BD), Smith 7064 (NBG).  3326 (Grahamstown): Hetherton Tower, Smith 1985 (NBG); The Fort (-BA), Smith 5062 (NBG); Fort Brown (-BA), Smith 3841, 3863 (NBG); N. Trumpeters Drift (-BA), Smith 5414 (NBG); Committees (-BB), Smith 2247, 3187, 5412, 5413, 5415, 7443 (NBG).  3327 (East London): E. Hunts Drift (-AC), Smith 5655 (NBG).

Inadequately located: Somerset East, Smith 2397 (NBG); Queenstown, Smith 6166 (NBG); Cradock, Smith 7369, 7370 (NBG); ex hort Smith 1146, 2812, 2821, 2829 (NBG); ex hort Whitehill NBG68247.

  • Haworthia nigra var. nigra JDV91/12 east of Steytlerville. Can be a very handsome species when successfully grown.

b. var. elongata (V.Poelln.) Uitew., Succulenta :51(1948). H. schmidtiana var. elongata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:240(1938).  Type: Cape, Bulkraal, Slagtersnek, Daly.  Not preserved.  Neotype (designated here): CAPE-3225(Somerset East): Slagtersnek (-DB), Van Jaarsveld & Marthinus 7913 (NBG).

This variant may be more generally distributed than is presently known.  It is characterised only by the very great length that the stems may attain, upto 400mm.

Distribution: 3225 (Somerset East): Slagtersnek (-DB), Van Jaarsveld & Marthinus 7913 (NBG).

c. var. diversifolia (V.Poelln.) Uitew., Succulenta :51(1948).  H. diversifolia V.Poelln. loc.cit. 41:200(1937).  H. schmidtiana var. diversifolia idem. 44:205(1938).  Type: Cape, Prieska, Draghoender, Mrs van der Bijl in Triebn. 818.  Not preserved.  Neotype (designated here): CAPE-3323(Willowmore): Kruidfontein (-AB), Bruyns in KG435/75 (NBG):  H. schmidtiana var. diversifolia forma nana V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:240(1938).  H. nigra var. diversifolia forma nana (V.Poelln.) Uitew. loc.cit.  Type: Cape, Beaufort West, Marais in Triebn.1078.  Not preserved.

The leaves are greyer-green and the tubercles still lighter and often confluent in transverse bands.  The leaves are tightly arranged on the stem.  Because they are short and only slightly recurved at the tips, their arrangement in three vertical tiers is very obvious.

Distribution: 3221 (Fraserburg): Wilgerboskloof, Letskraal (-BB), Shearing 913 (PRE); Spitzkop (-CB), Bruyns 4863 (NBG); W. Merweville (-CB), Bayer 2469a (NBG); Klipfontein (-CC), Bruyns 3105 (NBG); SW. Klipfontein (-CC), Bruyns 3097 (NBG).  3222(Beaufort West): Wolwehoek (-AC), Bayer 4294 (NBG); Doornhoek (-AD), Bruyns 3993 (BOL); Lammertjiesleegte (-BC), Branch 293 (NBG); Prutkraal (-DD), Bruyns 3195 (NBG).  3323 (Willowmore): Kruidfontein (-AB), Bruyns in KG435/75 (NBG); Miller (-BB), Pretorius in NBG68253 (NBG).

  • Haworthia nigra var. diversifolia JDV89/32 north of Prince Albert. Being more tightly packed and shorter, the trifarious arrangement is more conspicuous.
  • Haworthia nigra var. diversifolia JDV83/1 north of Beaufort West. In this variety the tubercles are flattened and tend to be greyish in colour, while the leaves are shorter and more closely adherent to each other.

Haworthia Revisited – 52. Haworthia pungens

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52. Haworthia pungens M.B.Bayer spec. nov. Type: CAPE-3323 (Willowmore): Braamrivier, Joubertina (-DD), Bruyns 7090 (BOL, Holo.)

pungens: sharp-pointed

Rosette to 60 mm φ, caulescent, proliferating. Leaves many, arrangement occasionally trifarious, usually fivefarious, to 50 x 18 mm, spreading, smooth, rigid, sharp-pointed, green in shade, darkening and reddening in sunlight. Inflorescence simple, to 300 mm. Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, inner lower tepals revolute. (Haworthia viscosae simillima sed foliis plerumque cumepidermis omnino laevi et duriore apicique differt, plantae caulibus situ foliorum cum apicibus acutis plantam Astrolobae simulans.)

Odd plants from the Longkloof Valley between Uniondale and Humansdorp have appeared from time to time.  One such collection was of H. viscosa with long slender leaves. However at one time there was a Poellnitzia-like plant in the greenhouse of the Albany Museum said to be from the Baviaanskloof. Recently P.V.Bruyns brought back specimens from the more southerly Langkloof, north of Joubertina, which he said resembled an Astroloba.  Shortly thereafter Ernst van Jaarsveld also brought back specimens from north of Kareedouw.  The two localities are about 30 kn apart.  The Braamrivier locality is a small conglomerate outcrop bearing an assortment of succulents such as Crassula perfoliata and Euphorbia enopla, but in among Fynbos.  The plants form clusters of stems which are less upright than for H. viscosa, up to 0,5 m in diameter.  The lower leaves are mostly dead and the plants partly covered by the eroding conglomerate.  The colouration is striking although from a distance the plants show up as conspicuous black bushes on the bare hot rocky slope.  H. scabra also grows nearby and just off the main population, growing on a single rock about one metre in diameter were several specimens of this species, a single plant of the new species and five hybrid which were all different.  At the Kareedouw locality, the rock was also conglomerate but without the other succulents.  The clusters were much smaller than at Braamrivier and the habitat was also cooler and less hostile.  Nearby was a small Haworthia in the mould of H. cooperi var. gordiana.

The significance of the species must be considerable. Dr M. Hayashi suggested at the Succulent Congress in Johannesburg in 1996, and in manuscript, that the genus Astroloba proceeded or evolved from the Robustipedunculares. However, this species is much more Astroloba-like.  Its location in the Langkloof removes it entirely from the range of the Robustipedunculares and the flower is characteristic of the Hexangulares.  H. viscosa grows about 15 km eastward from the Kareedouw locality where it co-occurs and hybridizes with H. fasciata.  H. pungens cannot be confused with H. viscosa at all as the leaves are much more rigid and entirely smooth.  It can be noted that the common hybrids between H. viscosa and H. glauca which are found north and west of the Groot Winterhoek mountains are also Astroloba-like. But I would not suggest that this hybrid is the origin of Astroloba nor of the new species.

Distribution: 3323 (Willowmore): Braamrivier, Joubertina (-DD), Bruyns 7090, Bayer 6725 (NBG). 3324 (Steytlerville): Joubertskraal (-CC), van Jaarsveld 15576, Bayer 6672 (NBG).

  • Haworthia pungens JDV97/103 Braamrivier. A strange admixture of succulents among fynbos.
  • Haworthia pungens JDV97/103 Braamrivier. Plants are very dark coloured and reddish.

Haworthia Revisited – 53. Haworthia reinwardtii

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52. Haworthia reinwardtii (Salm Dyck) Haw., Revis. :53(1821).  V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:209(1937).  Bayer :149(1976).  Scott, Nat.Cact.Succ.J 36:32(1981).  Bayer :72(1982).  Scott :42(1985).  Aloe reinwardtii Salm Dyck, Obs.Bot. :37(1821).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 6:fl6(1836).  Type: Not known.  Not preserved.  Neotype: icon, :f16, Salm Dyck, Monogr.:  H. reinwardtii var. major Baker, JLinn.Soc. 18:202(1880).  Type: not known.  Not preserved:  H. reinwardtii var. pulchra V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:209(1937).  Type: Cape, Kaffirdrift, Long 350.  Not preserved:  H. reinwardtii var. archibaldiae ibid. :210.  Type: Alexandria-Port Alfred Road, Archibald 419.  Not preserved:  H. reinwardtii var. peddiensis Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 9:94(1943).  Type: Cape, Peddie Div., Smith 656 (NBG):  H. reinwardtii var. valida ibid. :98.  Type: Cape, Peddie Div., Smith 3342 (NBG):  H. reinwardtii var. grandicula ibid. 10:12(1944).  Type: Cape, E. Kaffirdrift, Smith 3363 (NBG):  H. reinwardtii var. haworthii Res., Mems.Soc.Broteriana: Succ.Afr. 3:79(1943).  Type: ex hort, not preserved:  H. reinwardtii var. triebneri ibid. :80.  Type: ex hort, not preserved:

reinwardtii: after Reinwardt.

Rosette to 100mm φ, caulescent, proliferating.  Leaves many, to 70 X 20mm, ratio stem diameter to leaf width 1:1.2, erect spreading or incurved, scabrid, brownish-green, usually with flattened scale-liked tubercles.  Inflorescence simple or occasionally compound, to 300mm.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, inner lower tepals revolute.

1982 – H. reinwardtii is very closely associated with H. coarctata.  It occurs southeast of Grahamstown between the Kowie and Fish rivers and eastwards from the Fish River to near East London.  The differences between the two species are discussed under H. coarctata.  The forms of H. reinwardtii are often more striking than in H. coarctata because of the larger whiter tubercles.  The cytology of the species is very interesting (Brandham, 1974) and although fa chalumnensis is maintained here, there are in fact many other triploids and also tetraploids which could be equally recognised.  It is difficult to decide precisely what represents the species.  The forms olivacea, zebrina and kaffirdriftensis are all from the same very variable population.  The fa olivacea when grown in good light is fairly smooth with slender leaves and is a handsome olive‑green.  The fa zebrina has bands of confluent tubercles across the back of the leaf, whereas in fa kaffirdriftensis the tubercles are very large and white against a deep green background.  Brandham has shown that the genetic make‑up of H. reinwardtii is unusually unstable, and this may explain why this species on its own could be of interest to a collector.  It is interesting to consider that a young stemless rosette of H. reinwardtii could easily be confused with H. fasciata, particularly when the inner leaf surfaces are smooth.  The leaves in H. attenuata are a little too long and spreading for a similar resemblance to H. reinwardtii plants which have the leaf faces tubercled.  Similar associations can be made with H. coarctata.  The var. brevicula occurs west of the Fish River in the higher lying areas east of Grahamstown.  It is much smaller and more compact than the typical variety.

1999 – Some of the earlier varieties are here only upheld as forms as they were virtually based on single clones.  The list of specimens reflects the way in which G.G. Smith tried to observe species.  He appeared to be trying to find specimens which differed enough to attract attention.  It is not in the least clear where he may have placed the amorphous residue which would have remained after his classification was complete.

a. var. reinwardtii.

Distribution:
3326 (Grahamstown): Fish River valley (-BB), Britten in PRE 34845; 30km from Grahamstown to Peddie (-BD), Britten 143 143a (PRE); Frasers Camp (-BD), Smith 3138 (PRE); Frazers Camp (‑BD), Smith 3138 (NBG):  Springtower, Smith 5177 (NBG); 5km NW. Kaffirdrift (-BD), Vosa 2172 (NBG); 3km E. Bushmans River (-DA), Smith 5217 (NBG).

3327 (East London): 21km. E. Huntsdrift (-AA), Smith 656 (NBG, PRE); Near Peddie (-AA), Smith 2742 (NBG), Smith 3363 (BOL); 3km. W. Peddie (-AA), Smith 3334, 3336, 3337 (NBG), Bayer 1391 (NBG); 9km S. Peddie (-AA), Smith 5668 (NBG); 2km E. Wooldridge (-AA), Smith 3333 (NBG); Near Wooldridge (-AA), Smith 3117, 3165, 3166, 3167 (NBG); 5km from Wooldridge (-AA), Smith 5214 (NBG); 2km W. Wooldridge (-AA), Smith 5212 (NBG); Umtana River (-AC), Britten 141 (BOL); Upper Umtana River (-AC), Smith 3376 (NBG); 1km. S. National Road (-AC), Smith 3335 (NBG); 16km NE. of Kafferdrift (-AC), Coetzee in PRE 34824; 11km SW. Peddie (-AC), Smith 3338, 3340 (NBG); 16km SW. Peddie (-AC), Smith 3339, 3341, 3342, 3343 (NBG); 1.5km E. Kaffirdrift (-AC), Smith 3352, 3362, 5274 (NBG); E. side of Kaffirdrift (-AC), Courtenay-Latimer in Smith 3350, 3360 (PRE); 21km SW. Peddie (-AC), Smith 3099, 3100, 3102, 3104, 3346, 3347, 3344, 3348, 3361, 7346 (NBG); E. Kaffirdrift (-AC), Smith 3101, 3103, 3349, 3350, 3351, 3352, 3353, 3354, 3355, 3356, 3357, 3358, 3359, 3360, 3363, 5258, 5259 (NBG), Vosa 2178 (NBG); SE. Kaffirdrift (-AC), Smith 5258, 5260 (PRE); Kaffirdrift (-AC), Smith 2752, 3104, 5264, 5265, 7333 (NBG), Smith 5258 (BOL), Britten 142 (BOL), Courtenay-Latimer in Smith 3363, 3364 (PRE); W. side Kaffirdrift (-AC) Britten 2, 141 (PRE); S. Kaffirdrift (-AC), Smith 657 (NBG); Kap River (-AC), Smith 2998 (NBG); Bell to Wesley (-AD), Smith 3149 (NBG,PRE); Wesley to Falloden (-AD), Smith 3102, 3150, 3151, 3151a, 3153, 3153, 3154, 3155, 3156 (NBG); Near Falloden (-AD), Smith 5662 (NBG); Lower Umtana River (-AD), Smith 5603 (NBG); 5km N. Chalumna (-BA), Smith 5312, 5313, 5314 (NBG); 7km NW Chalumna (-BA), Smith 2776 (NBG); 8km NW. Chalumna (-BA), Smith 2776a (NBG); E. Chalumna (-BA), Smith 2777, 2778, 2779, 3077, 3078, 3079, 3080, 3081, 5316, 5317 (NBG); S. Chalumna (-BA), Smith 3082, 3086, 3087, 3088, 3393, 3394, 3395, 3396, 3397, 3398, 3399 (NBG); W. Chalumna (-BA), Smith 513, 3083, 3084, 3085, 3114 (NBG); Chalumna Causeway (-BA), Smith 513 (PRE), Smith in NBG339/35 (BOL); Kranses, Chalumna River (-BA), Galpin 6289 (PRE); Mt Pleasant (-BA), Smith 3517 (NBG); Ncera River (-BA), Smith 3562, 3563 (NBG), M. Courtenay‑Latimer in NBG68556;; Keiskamma Mouth (-BA), Smith 5133 (NBG); Keiskamma Causeway (-BA), Smith 3148 (NBG); Kidds Beach (-BA), Smith 5209 (NBG); Kayser’s Beach (-BA), Carter (BOL).

Inadequately located: Paardepoort, Peddie, Archibald in NBG1323/32 (NBG);  Isidenge, Smith 3572 (PRE); ex hort, Marloth 4211, 5959 (PRE), Kirstenbosch, NBG68164, Smith 3149 (NBG); Albany, Britten in PRE 34838, in PRE 26518; Bathurst, Holland in NBG1833/26 (BOL); Peddie, Dyer 2261a (BOL); .

b. fa chalumnensis (Smith) Bayer :106(1976).  Bayer :72(1982).  H. reinwardtii var. chalumnensis Smith, JS.Afr. Bot. 9:99(1943).  Scott, Nat.Cact.Succ.J 36:38(1981).  Scott :45(1985).  Type: CAPE‑3327 (Peddie): Chalumna (‑BA), Smith 513 (NBG).

chalumnensis: from Chalumna.

The species occurs all around Chalumna and it is only the triploid vegetatively propagated clone which is this form.  It is much easier to grow in cultivation than many of the other clones which have been collected, but which seem never to have survived for long in cultivation.

c. fa kaffirdriftensis (Smith) Bayer :126(1976).  Bayer :72(1982).  H. reinwardtii var. kaffirdriftensis Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 9:96(1943).  Scott, Nat.Cact.Succ.J 36:37(1981).  Scott :44(1985).  Type: CAPE‑3327 (Peddie): Kaffirdrift (‑AC), Smith 3364 (NBG).

kaffirdriftensis: from Kaffirdrift.

This variety is probably a single clone is from the east bank of the Fish River and Smith was also intending to name a very similar clone from west of Wesley.  The conspicuous tubercles are in longitudinal rows on the back of the leaves.

d. fa olivacea (Smith) Bayer :142(1976).  Bayer :72(1982).  H. reinwardtii var. olivacea Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 10:142(1944).  Type: CAPE‑3327 (Peddie): Kaffirdrift (‑AC), Smith 5260 (NBG).

olivacea: olive green.

Unlike some of the other forms, this one has an unusual colour and its tubercles are a little rounder and sparser.  This character appears to a lesser degree in several clones collected on the west bank of the Fish River.  David Cumming also reports the form to be a more substantial element to the southwest.

e. fa zebrina (Smith) Bayer :169(1976).  Bayer :73(1982).  H. reinwardtii var. zebrina Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 10:18(1944).  Scott, Nat.Cact.Succ.J 36:37(1981).  Scott :46(1985).  Type: CAPE‑3327 (Peddie): Kaffirdrift (‑AC), Smith 5258 (NBG).

zebrina: striped.

In this form the tubercles are very conspicuous and arranged in prominent white bands on the outer leaf surfaces.  The clone does not seem to have survived very well in cultivation and is thus not as vigourous as fa chalumnensis.

f. var. brevicula Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 10:11(1944).  Bayer :104(1976).  Bayer :73(1982).  Scott, Nat.Cact.Succ.J 36:37(1981).  Scott :45(1985).  Type: CAPE‑3326 (Grahamstown): Frazers Camp (‑BD), Smith 3138 (NBG):  H. reinwardtii var. diminuta Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 14:15(1948).  Type: Cape, Albany Div., Smith 5177 (NBG).

brevicula: very small.

This variety has some substance in terms of variability and distribution.  It does not seem to do well in cultivation and is consequently not often seen in collections.  Perhaps for the same reason it is not well-known and may transform to some degree in cultivation.  Scott does suggest that it occurs mostly as solitary individuals but this is not true as even his photograph shows.  The habitat is dominated by graasy fynbos to a lesser degree than in the case of H. coarctata var. adelaidensis.  H. coarctata var. huntsdriftensis was, according to Smith’s records, collected very close to the east of Frazer’s Camp where the vegetation also changes to Valley Bushveld.

Distribution: 3326 (Grahamstown): Springtower (-BD), Smith 5177 (NBG); Frazer’s Camp (-BD), Smith 3138, 5117, 5176, 5298, 5299, 5300, 5301, 5664, 7470 (NBG), Bayer 1381, 1382, 1383, 1384 (NBG); 3km W. Frazer’s Camp (-BD), Smith 2901 (NBG); Forestdale (-BD), Smith 5500 (NBG); Top Hunt’s Drift (-BD), Smith 7105, 7106 (NBG).

  • Haworthia reinwardtii var. reinwardtii JDV94/58 Kaisers Beach. At the eastern limits of the species where tripoids occur.
  • Haworthia reinwardtii var. reinwardtii fa. olivacea JDV90/122 Kaffirdrift. These orange colours occur generally and not only in the fa. olivacea.
  • Haworthia reinwardtii var reinwardtii fa. chalumnensis Chalumna. Used to occur in a dense colony.
  • Haworthia reinwardtii var. reinwardtii fa. kaffirdriftensis Kaffirdrift. With vertical rows of tubercles.
  • Haworthia reinwardtii var. reinwardtii fa. zebrina JDV94/118 Kaffirdrift. Even barred forms resembling the fa. zebrina can be “olivaceous”.
  • Haworthia reinwardtii var. brevicula JDV97/70 Frazers Camp. A miniaturized form which is not easy to maintain in cultivation.

Haworthia Revisited – 54. Haworthia scabra

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54. Haworthia scabra Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :58(1819).  Bayer :152(1976).  Scott, Cact.Succ.J(U.S.) 52:274(1980).  Bayer :73(1982).  Scott :4(1985).  Type: Cape, not preserved.  Lectotype: icon (K):  H. tuberculata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 29:219(1931).  Scott loc.cit. :275 (1980).  Type: Oudtshoorn Distr., Mrs van der Bijl.  Not preserved:  H. tuberculata var. acuminata V.Poelln. loc.cit. 44:218(1938).  Type: Keurbooms River Heights, Woolley in Long 394.  Not preserved:  H. tuberculata var. sublaevis ibid. :219.  Type: Oudemuragie, near DeRust, Mrs Blackburn in Triebn.1062.  Not preserved:  H. tuberculata var. subexpansa V.Poelln., Cact.J 7:56(1938).  Type: Ladismith, Joubert in Triebn.813.  Not preserved:  H. tuberculata var. angustata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 49:27(1940).  Type: Oudtshoorn Distr., Vergelegen, STE7793.  Not preserved.

scabra: rough.

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, to 160mm tall.  Leaves to 160 X 22mm, attenuate, rotate, incurved, nearly as thick as wide, surfaces scabrid or smooth, with or without distinct raised non-confluent concolourous tubercles.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, inner lower tepals revolute.

1982 – H. scabra is a very dark species with scabrid, tubercled leaf surfaces similar to H. nigra.  It is widespread from Baviaanskloof to Ladismith.  Size is variable and the plants may be as small as 30mm or as tall as 150mm.  The form of the plants varies from having the leaves distinctly tiered, in either 3 or 5 vertical tiers; and either incurved or suberect and spreading.  In some forms there are few leaves and the plants are acaulescent, but in others with many leaves, the plants do have a short leafy stem.  The plants may be highly proliferous or solitary.  The habitat requirements are quite interesting and reflect the tendency in the genus for populations to be highly localised.  Thus H. scabra may, in the mountains north of Oudtshoorn, be found crowded in white quartz outcrops, in the same way that H. venosa ssp. tessellata occur in such formations in the Richtersveld.  The var. morrisiae is a much smoother element which is known only from the Schoemanspoort area north of Oudtshoorn, in the same local area as H. starkiana.  Von Poellnitz actually reported that it was collected growing next to H. starkiana and H. scabra, suggesting that it was a hybrid.

1999 -It is curious that Von Poellnitz, followed by Scott, placed H. scabra in a different section to H. tuberculata. It is evident from Von Poellnitz’s citations and Scotts distribution maps that the distributions of the two elements overlap. The difference between the two (and therefore at sectional level also) was the argument that the former had minute warts and the latter distinct tubercles. It has already been pointed out that tuberculate and glabrous leaf surfaces may occur in one and the same species. Von Poellnitz’s comment that var. morrisiae occurred with H. starkiana and with H. scabra (he used the name tuberculata) is now fairly confidently thought to bear also on the problematic identity of H. smitii. Plants of that species were given to Mrs Lategan by Jacob Smit and still survive as more than one clone in JD. Venter’s collection. There has been a problem in relating them to field populations and it is only recently that a collection by Mary Parisi was considered to be this species. However, that collection and an extensive population examined in the closer Schoemanspoort area contain elements which can positively be related to both var. morrisiae and to H. smitii. The only detracting fact is that the surviving cultivated plants of the latter are much larger and robust than those seen in the field . This is presumed to be from its long history of cultivation.

Based on these observations, it has been decided to simply include H. starkiana under H. scabra and widen the circumscription of the var. morrisiae to include H. smitii. The var. lateganiae is probably as much a variant of H. scabra as is H. starkiana and it is more sensible for the arrangement to reflect that fact. The var. starkiana occurs from the Raubenheimer Dam south-westwards to the mouth of Schoemanspoort, while var. lateganiae occurs in the area to the east around Oudemuragie. There is clearly a great deal of interaction between these two varieties and the typical scabra which grows in the same area. They do not seem to co-occur in the way that one would expect discrete elements would, and the var. morrisiae seems to be the intermediate. Over the rest of the range of the species, only the identifiable var. scabra is found in a range of guises. Near Prince Alfred’s Pass, the leaves may be long and slender, more numerous and less tubercled. Whether or not this leads directly on to H. sordida is an open question but probably unlikely.

a. var. scabra
The var. scabra is the widespread, very variable element. The plants may be quite small and blackish-green, lightly or heavily tubercled and the leaves may be manifestly trifariously arranged, or quinquefariously. The leaves may be tightly incurved and rotate, or erect-spreading.

Distribution: 3321 (Ladismith): (‑CA), Dekenah 91 (NBG), Oddie in NBG1971/32 (BOL); E. Ladismith (-CB), Smith 5511 (NBG).  3322 (Oudtshoorn): Cango (-AC), Smith 5224, 5225, 5225a, 5226 (NBG); Oudemuragie (-AD), (NBG); Vanwykskraal (-CB), Fourcade 217 (NBG); Kleinpoort (-CB), Taylor 20409 (BOL); Mannetjiesberg (-DB), Esterhuysen 18369 (BOL).  3323 (Willowmore): Haarlem (-CB), Fourcade 3610 (BOL), Smith 3668 (NBG); DeHoop (-CB), Wisura in KG507/71 (NBG); Saptou (-CB), Bruyns 7078 (BOL); Keurboomsrivier (-CC), Bouwer (NBG); Luiskraal (-DA), Forrester 101 (NBG); Braamriver (-DB), Bruyns 7083 (BOL).

Inadequately located: Avontuur, James (BOL); Uniondale, Coates (BOL); Calitzdorp, ex hort Whitehill (NBG).

  • Haworthia scabra var. scabra JDV94/97 Kleynshoogte. A gigerous population of large clustering clones.
  • Haworthia scabra var. scabra JDV97/101 north of Schoemanspoort. A dark smoothish form.
  • Haworthia scabra var. scabra JDV93/33 southeast of Oudtshoorn. A particularly nice form with large dark, but flattened tubercles.
  • Haworthia scabra var. scabra JDV94/97 Kleynshoogte. It is here that the hybrid with H. viscosa, ie ‘tauteae’ was collected.

b.var. lateganiae (V.Poelln.) Bayer comb.nov.  H starkiana var. lateganiae (V.Poelln.) Bayer :128(1976).  Bayer :75(1982).  H. lateganiae V.Poelln., Des.Pl.Life 9:103(1937),  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. :99(1938).  Type: Cape, Vanwykskraal, Mrs L. Lategan in Triebn.1023.  Not preserved.  Lectotype (B&M): icon (B):

lateganiae: in honour of Mrs L. Lategan.

This variety has rather long, slender leaves which are smooth and shiny, but darker green than in the var. starkiana. It was originally considered to be with a short stem but this cannot be considered to be diagnostic in any way. It is quite probable that this may just manifest itself because the leaves tend to be thinner and thus have a greater ratio of size to stem than does var. starkiana.

Distribution: 3322 (Oudtshoorn): Groot Kruis (‑AD), Otzen in NBG69248 (BOL), Smith 3859, 3860 (NBG).

  • Haworthia scabra var. lateganiae JDV97/104 west of De Rust. Never as yellow as the var. starkiana.
  • Haworthia scabra var. lateganiae JDV97/104 west of De Rust. Leaves also longer and more slender.
  • Haworthia scabra var. lateganiae JDV86/87 Schoemanspoort west of De Rust. On steep north facing slopes, very exposed. These odd plants could be mistaken for var. starkiana.

c. var. morrisiae (V.Poelln.) Bayer :137(1976).  Bayer:74(1982).  H. morrisiae V.Poelln., Kakteenkunde 9:l32(1937).  ibid., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:100(1937).  Type: Cape, Cango, Mrs F. Morris in Triebn.916.  Not preserved.  Lectotype (B&M): icon (B).

morrisiae: for Mrs G. Morris.

As indicated in the discussion of the species, the concept of this variety has been widened to cover the intermediates between the varieties scabra, starkiana and lateganiae. This interaction is known only in the Rust-en-Vrede area of Cango but it should be expected to extend to the Grootkruis area to the south-east. The tubercles are generally very small and confluent so that the surfaces are really minutely and uniformly scabrid. However, a widened concept needs to allow for a lighter coloured variant with occasional, more prominent tubercles.

Distribution: 3322 (Oudtshoorn): Schoemanspoort (-AC), Venter 6 (NBG); Schoemanspoort (-AD), Bayer in KG119/72 (NBG).

Inadequately located: Oudtshoorn, Van Ryneveld in NBG 69245, Peers 29 (BOL).

  • Haworthia scabra var. morrisiae JDV90/82 ex Mrs Lategan. This is an original clone of ‘H. smittii’.
  • Haworthia scabra var. morrisiae JDV97/97 northeast of Schoemanspoort. This variety includes all the intermediates between the more obvious var. scabra and var. starkiana populations.
  • Haworthia scabra var. morrisiae JDV97/109 northeast of Schoemanspoort. The terrain is very collector-unfriendly.
  • Haworthia scabra var. morrisiae JDV97/97 northeast of Schoemanspoort. The plants are more scabrid than var. starkiana ie. ‘smitii’.
  • Haworthia scabra var. morrisiae JDV97/97 northeast of Schoemanspoort. A wide range of leaf arrangements occurs.

d. var. starkiana (V.Poelln.) Bayer comb.nov.  H. starkiana V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 33:73(1933).  ibid. 43:101(1938).  Type: Oudtshoorn, Taylor.  Not preserved:  Lectotype (B&M): icon (B):  H. taylori Barker in ms. (NBG).

starkiana: in honour of Prof. Peter Stark.

1982 – This species is particularly remarkable in that it has a very limited distribution and also in its relation to H. scabra.  It occurs only as far as is known in Schoemanspoort, north of Oudtshoorn, and in the valley extending eastwards to the Raubenheimer and Melville dams.  It occurs on steep, hot north facing slopes, forming large yellow clumps which are conspicuous against the brown and greys of the rocky terrain.  The plants show exactly the same range of variability as do those of H. scabra; i.e. the leaves may be short, incurved and twisted spirally to one side, or they may be longer, suberect, and less twisted.  The var. lateganiae is a darker, dull green in contrast to the bright yellow‑green of the var. starkiana.  The leaves are also less turgid and swollen so that the plants are correspondingly smaller for the same number of leaves.  The var. lateganiae grows in an adjoining valley at a slightly lower altitude and is so far known only at the eastern end of the valley.  Its distribution and variability are thus still really unknown.  The relationship of H. starkiana and H. scabra is very obvious from the similar branched, slender inflorescences, and from the remarkable similarity of the various growth forms.  Some collections of H. scabra var. morrisiae (a relatively smooth variety) are practically as smooth as H. starkiana itself, and have included forms practically identical to that species.  The localities are, however, very close to one another and it is not possible to say that these intermediates are hybrids or not.  H. smitii was possibly a genuine hybrid of H. starkiana and H. scabra as it has the colour and texture of the former species, and the tubercles of the latter.

1999 – Speculation surrounded the identity of H. smitii until the very last moment and it was not expected that a population of such a plant would be found outside of the area of the var. starkiana.  Initially it was included here with var. starkiana as a tuberculate variant.  However, further collecting during the writing of this book confirmed the direct integradation between typical H. scabra and var. starkiana. What is curious is that while the evidence of this intergradation is irrefutable in two populations, there is also the situation where the two elements virtually co-occur in the absence of intermediates.  It is the intermediates which are recognized in a wider concept of the var. morrisiae.

Distribution: 3322 (Oudtshoorn): Schoemanspoort (-AD)., Taylor 6511 (PRE), Taylor in NBG696/29, 20408 (BOL), Mavis in NBG1682/36, Lategan (NBG).

Inadequately located: Oudtshoorn, Morris in NBG 68240.

  • Haworthia scabra var. starkiana JDV97/96 northeast of Schoemanspoort. The finely tubercled dark form typical of the variety.
  • Haworthia scabra var. starkiana JDV86/89 Schoemanspoort. There are many degrees of leaf spiralization.
  • Haworthia scabra var. starkiana JDV86/89 Schoemanspoort. The clumps can be massive despite the paucity of soil.

Haworthia Revisited – 55. Haworthia sordida

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55. Haworthia sordida Haw., Revis. :51(1821).  Aloe sordida Roem. et Schult., Syst.Veg. 7:644(1829).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 7:f2(1863).  Type: icon, f2, Salm Dyck, Monogr.:  H. sordida var. agavoides (Zant. et V.Poelln.).  Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 16:2(1950).  H. agavoides Zant. et V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 43:232(1938).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved.

sordida: dirty looking.

Rosette stemless, seldom proliferous, to 150mm tall.  Leaves to 150 X 20mm, attenuate, erect, lanceolate-deltoid, dark grey to blackish-green, surfaces scabrid with indistinct slightly raised non-confluent tubercles; margins obtuse.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, inner lower tepals revolute.

1982 – H. sordida is probably the eastern equivalent of H. scabra.  It is much more finely tuberculate and the leaves are nearly always blunt.  It is very localised and scarce, although it is distributed from Uitenhage westwards to Steytlerville.  The name does not do credit to this very handsome species and other species also accumulate dust on the leaf surfaces to become dirty looking.  H. sordida has the same slender wiry peduncle as in H. scabra.  It is a very slow growing species and although it may make offsets, the rate is extremely slow.

1999 – H. sordida is not particularly rare and occurs from near Addo all the way to Steytlerville.  It has never done well in cultivation until the advent of perlite mixtures in which it really seems to thrive.  Then it loses the dirty dull look and may become impressively blackish-green.  A peculiarity of the leaves is the way in which the margins more or less coalesce on the upper surface of the leaf before the tip.  The outer part may recurve slightly to form a small end-area which is retused in some of the western forms.  J.D. Venter suggests that this character may be a clue to the origins of H. bruynsii, which is geographically complementary.  The species has several notable variants and the leaf arrangement may vary similarly to that in H. scabra, although the leaves do not become as falcate and rotate as they can in that species. I did collect a form with exceptionally long, slender leaves from near Kirkwood in 1988 which I intended naming for Col. Scott.  Unfortunately the specific site has been destroyed by bush-clearing and I have not been able to relocate it.  A less slender-leaved form is present nearby which would probably conform with the var. agavoides.

a. var. sordida

This is the ordinary well-known form with erect , slightly spreading leaves which occurs around Addo, Kirkwood and on westwards to Kleinpoort

Distribution: 3324 (Steytlerville): Kleinpoort (-BD), Smith 2923, 7042, 7044 (NBG); W. Steytlerville (‑DB), Smith 7043 (NBG). 3325 (Port Elizabeth): Brakfontein (-AC), Bayer (NBG); Glenconnor (-AC), Cook (BOL); NW. Uitenhage (-AC), Smith 5091 (NBG); Enon (-BC), Thode A1133 (PRE); Welgevonden (-CA), Smith 3584 (NBG); Addo (-DA), Fourcade 101 (NBG), Smith 3548 (NBG); Addo Road (-DC), Long 1131 (PRE), Long 1961 (BOL), Arnold (BOL), Cook in NBG 965/30 (BOL), Britten (BOL).

  • Haworthia sordida var. sordida JDV96/91 Soutkloof. It occurs here in a wide array of micro-habitats.
  • Haworthia sordida var. sordida JDV91/10 southeast of Kirkwood. A narrow leaved form probably equating to the var. agavoides of Zantner. An even more attenuated form seems to have been eradicated in this area by agricultural clearing.
  • Haworthia sordida var. sordida JDV93/20 east of Springbokvlakte. The species occus further to the west and the plants may be much smaller.
  • Haworthia sordida var. sordida JDV91/120 kleinpoort. Here the plants are typical but south of here was a population which included hybrids with H. venosa ssp. woolleyi.

b. var. lavranii Scott, Cact.Succ.J(U.S.) 53:70(1981).  Scott :8(1985).  Type: 3324 (Steytlerville): Perdehoek (-AC), Hechter in PRE 61124.

lavranii: for J. Lavranos.

This is characteristic of smaller western forms with recurved leaves, although the end-area as discussed above is hardly apparent in Scott’s illustration (1985).

Distribution: 3324 (Steytlerville): Perdehoek (-AC), Hechter in PRE 61124; NE. Die Bordjie, Baroe (-BC), Bayer & Bruyns 6588 (NBG).

  • Haworthia sordida var. lavranii JDV91/124 Langveld. Growing near to H. bruynsii.
  • Haworthia sordida var. lavranii JDV94/49 southeast of Springbokvlakte. The smaller variety with almost retused leaves.
  • Haworthia sordida var. lavranii JDV94/99 Springbovlakte. Another population in which the leaves have a pronounced end area.

Haworthia Revisited – 56. Haworthia venosa

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56. Haworthia venosa (Lam.) Haw., Revis. :51(1821).  Bayer :166(1976).  Scott, Cact.Succ.J(U.S.) 50:74(1978).  Bayer :76(1982).  Scott :35(1985).  Aloe venosa Lam. Encycl. 1:89(1873).  Type: icon, 80:t29, Commelin, Prael.Bot. (1703).  Epitype (B&M): Swellendam, Bayer 168 (NBG):  Aloe tricolor Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. 7:25(1804).  Type: as for H. venosa:   H. recurva Haw. Syn.Pl.Succ. :94(1812).  Haw., Revis. :51(1821).  Aloe recurva Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. 7:10(1804).  Simms Bot.Mag. :t.1353(1811).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 7:f3(1836).  Type: Cape, Masson.  Not preserved.  Neotype (designated here): icon, f3, Salm Dyck loc.cit.:  H. distincta N.E. Brown, Gard.Chron. 6:130(1876).  Type: Cape, Graaff Reinet, Bolus (K):  H. venosa var. oertendahlii Hjelmquist in Bot.Notiser :233(1943).  Type: Not known.

venosa: veined.

Rosette usually stemless, slowly proliferous by off-set or stolons, to 30mm tall.  Leaves to 100 X 15mm, spreading to recurved, ovate-deltoid, upper surfaces smooth reticulate, lower surfaces usually slightly scabrid.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lower inner tepals revolute.

1982 – Originally the writer concluded that the name ‘recurva’ should be applied to what was generally known as H. tessellata.  Scott (1978) insists on recognising three discrete species in this context and rejects the name ‘recurva’ as insufficiently known.  After propagating H. venosa ssp. venosa from seed and seeing the extraordinary resemblance of the seedlings to the illustration in Simms Botanical Magazine of H. recurva, the writer is prepared to accept Salm‑Dyck’s statement that H. recurva was in fact grown from seed of H. venosa.  The writer cannot accept Scott’s arguments regarding the status of the three subspecies listed above.  Firstly the ssp. granulata is not confined to Verlatenkloof.  It occurs at various points in the Ceres Karoo and there is a considerable variation in caulescence, leaf markings, and growth form.  These variants do thoroughly confuse the issue as it is impossible to lay down definite criteria to consistently separate the subspecies.  The ssp. venosa occurs in the Breede river valley and the variation here is also great.  In the northern population the plants may have leaves up to 120mm long whereas a population (since destroyed) has been observed in the south with leaves less than 30mm long.  In the field the leaves of the plants are invariably erect, whereas in cultivation they tend to recurve.  The ssp. tessellata is extremely widespread occurring in South West Africa, the southern Orange Free State and at high altitudes near New England and Barkly East in the north‑eastern Cape.  There is no cytological evidence available to suggest that the subspecies are discrete.  Most chromosome counts are for ssp. tessellata, which does include polyploids, one count is available for ssp. venosa and none for ssp. granulata.  Recent chromosome counts by Brandham (unpublished), confirm that normal diploids occur in all three subspecies.  There is such a grey area of indeterminate forms that it is considered wiser to adopt a concept of subspecies for this group.  The essential differences are that in ssp. venosa, the leaf surfaces are obscurely or lightly reticulate on the leaf faces, in ssp. tessellata the reticulation is pronounced, and in ssp. granulata the plants are caulescent and the leaf faces both scabrous and obscurely reticulate.  Cultivation does not pose any particular problems.  The ssp. granulata is from one of the driest areas in South Africa bordering on the winter rainfall area.  It is very slow growing and also slowly proliferous by off‑sets.  The ssp. venosa occurs in a dry area of the winter rainfall area and, while acaulescent, does form small clumps.  Ssp. tessellata is very variable.  It occurs primarily in the summer rainfall area and may be vigorously proliferous and also stoloniferous, or only slowly proliferous by offsets.

1999 – No changes are suggested here except to concede to repeated suggestions that H. woolleyi also be included in this species.  There is an interesting record of Dr J. Muir of Riversdale from the Albertinia area which suggests that the ssp. venosa occurs in the Gouritz River valley.  Scott considers that H. distincta did not originate from Graaff- Reinet as N.E. Brown maintained.  This may be correct but it is rather ironic that the pressure to include ssp. venosa and ssp. tessellata under one species arose from repeated comments on the similarity of forms of the latter at Graaff-Reinet to the Breede River subspecies.

a. ssp. venosa.

Distribution: 3420 (Bredasdorp): Swellendam (‑AB), Bayer 168 (NBG); Bontebok Park (-AB), Bayer 3453 (NBG); Breede River (-AB), Fouche 60 (PRE); Malgas (-BC), Bayer 2670 (NBG).

Inadequately located: Swellendam, Theunissen (BOL); Albertinia, Muir (BOL).

  • Haworthia venosa ssp. venosa JDV97/150 southwest of Swellendam. Strangely isolated along the Breede River, although there isa specimen to indicate also the Gouritz River.

b. ssp. granulata (Marl.) Bayer :120(1976).  Bayer :120(1976).  H. granulata Marl., Trans.R.Soc.S.Afr. 2:39(1910).  Scott, Cact.Succ. J(U.S.) 50:74(1978).  Scott :9(1985).  Type: Cape, Verlatenkloof, Marloth 4217 (BOL).

granulata: granulate.

This subspecies occurs virtually around the perimeter of the dry Ceres Karoo both in the higher rocky mountainous areas as well as on the flats among spiny Mesembryanthemaceae.  It is usually caulescent and the stemless forms seem to be more scabrid.

Distribution: 3219 (Wuppertal): Skitterykloof (-DC), Bayer 4669 (NBG).  3319 (Worcester): N. Karooport (-BA), Hall in NBG827/54.  3220 (Sutherland): Ganagas Pass (-AA), Bruyns 274 (NBG).  Ouberg Pass (-AD), Bruyns 2750 (BOL); Bantamsfontein (-CC), Bayer 5750 (NBG); Verlatenkloof (‑DA), Marloth 4217, 9632 (BOL), Scott 2200 (PRE), Hall 3168 (NBG), Stayner in KG309/68 (NBG); 60km N. Matjiesfontein (-DA), Scott 2201 (PRE).  3320 (Montagu): Touwsriver, Avondrust (-AC), Bayer 4668 (NBG); Witbergsrivier (-BD), Joffe 964 (PRE).

Inadequately located: Roggeveld, Logan (BOL); Wakloof (-BB), Hardy 2467 (PRE).

  • Haworthia venosa ssp. granulata JDV88/41 Ouber Pass. Widely distributed about the Ceres or Tanqua Karoo.
  • Haworthia venosa ssp. granulata JDV87/163 Ouberg Pass. Tall erect stems which cluster.
  • Haworthia venosa ssp. granulata JDV 88/38 west of Ouberg Pass. Well protected under bushes.

c. ssp. tessellata (Haw.) Bayer.  Bayer :149 (1976).  Bayer :76 (1982).  H. tessellata Haw., Phil.Mag. 44:300 (1824).  Scott, Cact.Succ.J. (U.S.) 50:74(1978).  Scott :37(1985).  Aloe tessellata (Haw.) Roem.et Schultes, Syst.Veg. 7:653 (1829).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 8:t1 (1836).  Lecotype (Scott, 1985): icon (K):  H. parva Haw., Phil.Mag. 44:301 (1824).  H. tessellata var. parva (Haw.) Baker, JLinn.Soc.Bot. 18:211(1880).  Aloe parva Roem.et Schultes, Syst.Veg. 7:763(1829).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 8:t2 (1836).  Type: Not preserved.  Neotype (designated here): Icon. :t2 Salm Dyck, Monogr.:  H. tessellata var. inflexa Baker JLinn.Soc.Bot. 18:211 (1880).  Type: ex hort, Kew.  Not preserved:  H. engleri Dint., Neu.Pfl.D.S.W.Afr. :31(1914).  H. tessellata var. engleri (Dint.) V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:202(1938).  Type: S.W.Africa, Ussis-Schulucht, Engler in Dinter 3156:  H. pseudotessellata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 27:133(1929).  Type: Cape, Kruidfontein Rail, Mrs van der Bijl.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. tuberculata V.Poelln., Cact.Succ.J(U.S.).5:33(1936).  Type: Cape, DeRust, Mrs Helm.  Not preserved:  H. minutissima V.Poelln., Des.Pl.Life 11:193 (1939). H. tessellata var. minutissima (V.Poelln.) Viveiros (1949).  Type: Cape, Cradock, Fouche in Triebn. 1212.  Not preserved:  Neotype (B&M) icon, Des.Pl.Life 10:193 (1939): H. tessellata var. elongata Van Woerden, Succ. 22:37 (1940).  Type: Namibia, Pevelberg, Graesner in Dresden 2205.  Not preserved: Lectotype (B&M): icon in Succ:38 H. tessellata var. simplex Resende et V.Poelln., Broteria 11:49(1942).  Type: ex hort Coimbra.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. stepheneana Resende ibid. :50.  Type: Cape.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. luisierii Resende ibid. :51.  Type: Cape, Queenstown, Triebn. 1207.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. palhinhiae Resende ibid. :51.  Type: ex hort Dahlem.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. velutina Resende ibid. :52.  Type: ex hort Hamburg.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. coriacea Resende ibid. :52.  Type: Cape, Port Elizabeth, Long.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. coriacea fa longior Resende ibid.  Type: Cape, Long.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. coriacea fa brevior idem. :53.  Type: Cape, Long.  Not preserved:  H. tessellata var. obesa Resende ibid. 54.  Type: ex hort Dahlem.  Not preserved.:  H. venosa subsp. recurva (Haw.) sensu Bayer :149 (1976).

tessellata: square patterned.

This is one of the most widespread and also abundant of the haworthias.  It is extremely variable, which is usually the case with any of the less localised species.  Motohashi et al. have examined chromosome numbers in this species and found polyploidy to be common.  Hexaploids and octaploids appear to dominate the northeast, while tetraploids do so in the northwest and southeast.  The number of chromosomes does not materially affect the appearance of the plants.

Distribution: 2623 (Vryburg): Vryburg (-DC), Vermeulen in KG108/60 (NBG).  2716 (Rosh Pinah): Schwarzekuppe, Aurus (-CB), Bruyns 3198 (NBG); Namuskluft (-DD), Bruyns 3926 (BOL), Bruyns 3171 (NBG).  2723 (Kuruman): Matlaring River (-AB), Acocks 2510 (BOL,PRE).  2724 (Taung): Buxton (-DB), Brueckner 1207 (PRE); Klein Boetsap (-CD), Pocock (BOL).  2816 (Alexander Bay): Hellskloof (-BD), Leighton 2333 (BOL). Augrabies (-CB), Marloth 12525 (PRE).  2817 (Vioolsdrift): Helskloof (-CD), Smith 6814 (NBG); NE. Eksteenfontein (-CD), Littlewood in KG955/62 (NBG); Kouefontein (-CD), Bayer 1661 (NBG).  2818 (Witputz): (-CA), Smith 7506 (NBG).  2820 (Aughrabies): Aughrabies (-CB), Leipoldt (BOL); Kakamas (-DB), Fuller 134 (BOL).  2821 (Upington): Wegdraai (-DD), Smith 2342 (NBG).  2917 (Springbok): Gunhill, Anenous (-BA), Barker 8966 (NBG); Arabees (-BB), Smith 1680, 1686 (NBG); (-BC), Meyer (BOL); Kinderle (-BD), Smith 7276a, 7277 (NBG).  2918(Aggenys): Aggenys (-BB), Oliver, Tolken & Venter 55 (PRE).  2922 (Prieska): Marydale (-AA), Smith 1677 (NBG); Prieska (-DB), Bryant 576 (PRE).  2923 (Douglas): Mazelsfontein (-BA), (BOL). 3.6km NW. Campbell (-DC), Leistner 902 (PRE).  2924 (Luckhoff): Belmont (-AD), Lang 6854 (PRE); (-DB), Freund 44 (BOL).  2925 (Fauresmith): Jagersfontein (-CB), Smith 7486 (NBG); Koppies (-CB), Henrici 1956 (PRE); Veld Reserve (-CB), Marloth 13104 (PRE); Veld Reserve (-CB), C.A.Smith 536 (PRE); Veld Reserve (-CB), C.A. Smith 5208 (PRE); Koppie (-CB), Verdoorn 2372 (PRE).  3019 (Loeriesfontein): Jaagvlakte (-BD), Bruyns 3037 (BOL).  3022 (Carnarvon): Vaalhoek (-CC), Bruyns 3034 (NBG).  3023(Britstown): Omdraaisvlei (-AA), Smith 2343 (NBG); Brakfontein (-CB), Smith 7280 (NBG); Twyfelhoek -DA), Bruyns 3021 (NBG); Vloekpoort (-DD), Bruyns 3018 (NBG).  3024 (Philipstown): (-AD), Battenhauser (BOL); De Aar (-CA), C.A. Smith 2809 (PRE).  3025 (Colesburg): Philipolis (-AD), Smith 7478 (NBG); Bethulie (-BD), Smith 5182 (NBG).  3026 (Aliwal North): Kraairivier (-AB), Smith 6063 (NBG); Tussen Riviere (-AC), Roberts 5570 (PRE); Murraysville (-CD), Smith 7412 (NBG); Doctors Drift (-DA), Gerstner 58 (PRE).  3027 (Zastron): Vegkop 11km W. Zastron (-AC), Fouche in PRE 34871; Karnmelksrivier (-CA), Smith 5669 (NBG).  3119 (Calvinia): Ezelskop (-AA), Bruyns 6841 (NBG); Koppieskraal (-AB), Pearson 4887 (BOL); Vanrhyns Pass (-AC), Bolus 1206/32 (NBG), Smith 3943 (NBG).  3120(Williston): Hamberg, Syter (-AD), Branch 333 (NBG).  3123(Richmond): Victoria West (-AC), James in NBG925/13 (BOL); Nuwerus (-CD), Bayer 4677 (NBG).  3124(Hanover): Cypherwater (-AD), Bruyns 3007 (BOL); Tweedale, Noupoort (-BB), Branch 38 (NBG).  3125 (Steynsburg): Flouker (-AC), Branch 39 (NBG); Rooispruit (-AD), Smith 6056 (NBG); Schoombie (-AD), Smith 3639 (NBG); Thebus (‑BC), Latimer in NBG 69408, Smith 610, 3636, 3637 (NBG).  3221 (Merweville): Aarfontein (-AD), Bruyns 6276b (BOL).  3222 (Beaufort West): Karoo Park (-BA), Branch 34 (NBG); E. Molteno Pass (-BC), Bayer 2372 (NBG); Road to Loxton (-BC), Scott 350 (PRE); Stolshoek (-BD), Bruyns 3383 (BOL).  3223 (Rietbron): Nelspoort (-AA), Bayer 2385 (NBG), Stayner in KG767/60 (NBG); Redcliffe (-BA), Bruyns 7055 (BOL).  3224 (Graaff-Reinet): Aberdeen Road (-CD), C.A. Smith in PRE 8888.  3225 (Somerset East): Mt. Zebra Park (-AD), Branch 33, 40 (NBG); Halesowen (-BA), Bayer 4667 (NBG), Reynolds in NBG2552/33 (NBG), Smith 2240 (NBG).  3326 (Grahamstown): Committees (-BB), Dyer 2172 (PRE).

Inadequately located: Sunnyside, Beaufort West, Esterhuysen (BOL); Aliwal North, Reynolds 112, in NBG2399/32, in NBG 2401 (BOL); Graaff Reinet, Bolus 794 (BOL); Aberdeen, Ferguson (BOL); Ex hort., Van Nouhuys in PRE 34853 (PRE).

  • Haworthia venosa ssp. tessellata T.Visser sn. Upington. Very widely distributed and also variable. The leaf markings can be quite striking.
  • Haworthia venosa ssp. tessellata JDV97/61 east of Beaufort West. Can be very proliferous from stolons.

d. ssp. woolleyi (V.Poelln.) Bayer comb.nov.  H. woolleyii V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 42:269(1938).  Bayer :168(1976).  Bayer :79(1982).  Scott :40(1985).  Type: Cape, Springbokflats, Woolley in Long 440.  Not preserved.  Lectotype: icon (B).

woolleyi: after C.H.T. Woolley.

1982 – When evaluating species rarity, H. woolleyi is seldom called to mind.  However, there are only two recorded instances of its ever having been collected.  The writer’s own record is of a single large clump growing completely hidden within a spiny shrub on the northern face of a rocky outcrop.  The relationship is obviously with H. venosa but it has many more leaves per rosette.  These are inserted closely on the stem so that the plant form is very like that of say H. attenuata.  The leaves are obscurely tesselate and also long and slender (up to 60mm long.).  Cultivation appears to be difficult and growth extraordinarily slow.  Although a clump‑forming species, offsetting is very slow and it is as quick to propagate this species from seed as from offset.

1999 – There are still very few records for this subspecies and this may either reflect its rarity or the general lack of systematic and conscientious recording.  There is no doubt that many collectors have roamed the area to the chagrin and annoyance of the local farmers.  The population known to me was very sound up to at least 1980 when I recorded at least six large proliferous clones.  Soon after this an attempt was made to protect the area by changing the fence-lines.  This appears to have been a total disaster as the new fence either placed the plants within the farmer’s grazing camp, or concentrated stock against the fence just where the plants existed.  Whoever may have been so cloddishly stupid to have been able and willing to eradicate (by collecting) the proliferous clones that I knew, is inconsequential now.  The moving of the fence, coupled with overgrazing (using the term to mean exerting grazing pressure to the extent that gross erosion ensues), or perhaps only the latter, has resulted in total destruction of the habitat.  The site is overgrown with weedy Mesembryanthemaceae and Atriplex lindleyi.  Also where there was a small but healthy number of H. sordida and some hybrids with H. woolleyi in a stable, vegetated ravine, there are now just erosion gullies and weeds.

Distribution: 3324 (Steytlerville): Springbok Flats (-BD), Woolley in NBG 1990/37 (BOL), Long 1442 (PRE); Kleinpoort (‑BD), Bayer 167 (NBG).

  • Haworthia venosa ssp. woolleyi JDV87/151 south of Kleinpoort. Fortunately many many seedlings were produced and there should be a good source of genetic material in collections.
  • Haworthia venosa ssp. woolleyi JDV90/68 south of Kleinpoort. The destruction of this, the only known habitat is a very sore point, involving a great deal of acrimony.

Haworthia Revisited – 57. Haworthia viscosa

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57. Haworthia viscosa (L.) Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :90(1812).  Bayer :167(1976).  Scott, Nat.Cact.Succ.J 36:98(1981).  Bayer :78(1982).  Scott :26(1985).  Aloe viscosa L. Spec.Plant. :460(1753).  Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. 7:6(1804).  Type: icon, 82:t31, Commelin, Prael.Bot. (1703).  Epitype (B&M): Blackburn Valley, Calitzdorp, Barker 5073 (NBG):  H. viscosa var. pseudotortuosa (Salm Dyck) Baker, J.Linn.Soc.Bot. 18:200(1880).  Aloe  pseudotortuosa Salm Dyck, Cat.Rais. :8(1817).  H. pseudotortuosa (Salm Dyck) Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :59(1819).  Aloe subtortuosa Salm Dyck, Monogr. 3:t5(1836).  Type: Not known.  Neotype: icon. 3:t5, Salm Dyck:  H. tortuosa Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :90(1812).  Baker, J.Linn.Soc.Bot. 18:201(1880).  Aloe tortuosa Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. 7:7(1804).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 4:t2(1836).  Type: Cape, Lewis.  Not preserved:  Neotype: Icon. 3:t5, Salm Dyck:  H. concinna Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :59(1819).  Aloe tortuosa var. major Salm Dyck, Cat.Rais. :8(1817).  A. concinna (Haw.) Roem. et Schultes, Syst.Veg. 7:653(1829).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 3:t4(1836).  H. viscosa var. concinna (Haw.) Baker, J.Linn.Soc.Bot. 18:200(1880).  Type: Not preserved.  Neotype: icon. 3:t4, Salm Dyck:  H. asperiuscula Haw. Suppl.Pl.Succ. :60(1819).  Aloe asperiuscula (Haw.) Salm Dyck, Monogr. 3:t2(1836).  Type: Not preserved.  Neotype: icon. 3:t2, Salm Dyck:  H. cordifolia Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :60(1819).  Aloe cordifolia (Haw.) Salm Dyck, Monogr. 3:t1(1836).  Type: Not preserved.  Neotype: icon. 3:t1, Salm Dyck:  H. indurata Haw., Rev.Pl.Succ. :49(1821).  Aloe viscosa var. indurata (Haw.) Salm Dyck, Monogr. 3:t3a(1836).  H. viscosa var. indurata (Haw.) Baker, J.Linn.Soc.Bot. 18:200(1880).  Type: Not preserved.  Neotype: icon. 3:t3a, Salm Dyck:  H. viscosa var. major Haw., Revis. :49(1821).  Type: Not preserved:  H. viscosa var. minor ibid.:  H. viscosa var. parvifolia ibid.:  H. torquata Haw., Phil.Mag. 1:123(1827).  H. viscosa var. torquata (Haw.) Baker, J.Linn.Soc.Bot. 18:201(1880).  Aloe torquata (Haw.) Salm Dyck, Monogr.3:t6(1836).  Type: Not preserved.  Neotype: icon. 3:t6, Salm Dyck:    H. viscosa var. subobtusa V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:240(1938).  Type: Cape, Aberdeen, Wilke in Triebn.1152.  Not preserved:   H. viscosa var. caespitosa idem.  Type: Cape, Ladismith, Vensterkrans, La Grange in Triebn.1151.  Not preserved:  H. beanii Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 10:137(1945).  Type: Cape, Ferndale, Courtenay-Latimer in Smith 3189 (NBG):  H. beanii var. minor ibid. :138.  Type: Cape, Ferndale, Courtenay-Latimer in Smith 3678 (NBG):  H. viscosa var. cougaensis Smith, JS.Afr. Bot. 11:65(1945).  Type: Cape, Willowmore, Smith 2902 (NBG):  H. viscosa var. viridissima idem. :67. Type: Cape, Steytlerville, Smith 2915 (NBG):  H. asperiuscula var. subintegra ibid. :68(1945).  Type: Cape, Ladismith, Smith 5369 (NBG):  H. asperiuscula var. patagiata ibid. 12:11(1946).  Type: Cape, Willowmore, Smith 2176 (NBG):  H. viscosa var. quaggaensis ibid. 14:46(1948).  Type: Cape, Humansdorp, Smith 2937 (NBG).

viscosa: sticky.

Rosette caulescent, proliferous, to 300mm tall.  Leaves to 50 X 15mm, closely adnate, spreading, deltoid, arranged trifariously, surfaces scabrid, pungent tips.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lower inner tepals revolute.

1982 – The large number of synonyms may exaggerate the variability of this species.  Smith had selected approximately 15 further variants which he intended describing.  H. viscosa is very widely distributed in the eastern, central and southern Karoo, and Little Karoo.  It also extends into the lower Gamtoos valley, sometimes occurring in fynbos vegetation.  The chief characteristic of the species is its trifarious leaf arrangement ‑ a characteristic shared strictly with H. nigra.  The leaves are scabrous rather than tubercled as in H. nigra.  The degree of secondary spiralisation of the three vertical leaf tiers varies, as does the closeness with which the leaves are packed into each other on the stems.  These two factors coupled with size and colour account for the vast majority of variants.  Very often the overriding factor is simply a question of growing conditions.  H. viscosa does hybridise with several species.  The hybrid with H. scabra gave rise to H. tauteae while the hybrid with H. longiana was undescribed.  An unusual population in the Baviaanskloof has short stems and glaucous leaves.  H. viscosa is proliferous from the base, slow growing, but easy to grow in cultivation.

1999 – Haworth wrote in 1821, “A little difference in soil, culture and age, often make a great one in the face and appearances of succulent plants; and it requires consummate skill, and unwearied attention, to decide on every occasion with complete success.  And more especially from those who cannot keep alive, and in perfect health, a good collection of their own; whose flowers it requires no favour to dissect, and carry away, for further study.”  H. viscosa is a slow growing species and not very popular in collections.  This is despite it being a very handsome species in its own right.  The form described as H. beanii by Smith may be sufficiently distinctive for varietal status.  There are indications that the rugged terrain of the Baviaanskloof may hold several such odd forms.  Hybrids between H. viscosa and H. glauca var. herrei are known in the Steytlerville area.

Distribution: 3220 (Sutherland): 43km N. Laingsburg (-DD), Bruyns 2934 (BOL), Bayer 2117, 2131 (NBG).  3224(Graaff Reinett): Basal slopes mt. (-AB), Galpin 10276 (PRE); Graaff Reinet (-AB), Marloth 4205 (PRE), Sister Tarcisia 13 (PRE), Thode A 622 (PRE), Thode 23976 (NBG); Tandjiesberg (-BC), Bruyns 2969 (NBG).  3320(Montagu): Matjesfontein (-BA), Compton 15241 (NBG); Laingsburg (-BB), C.A. Smith 2507 (PRE).  3321 (Ladismith): W. Ladismith (-AC), Smith 6786 (NBG); Gamkapoort, Varsfontein (-BC), Bruyns 2911 (BOL), Laidler 684 (NBG); Ockertskraal (-CA), Smith 6992 (NBG), Bohnen 8732 (NBG), Laidler 491 (NBG); S. Ladismith (-CA), Smith 5369, 7142, 7143 (NBG); S. Ladismith (-CB), Smith 5369 (BOL, NBG, PRE); S. Vanwyksdorp (-CB), Smith 6890 (NBG); S. Ladismith (-CC), Smith 7137 (NBG); Calitzdorp (-DA), Smith 2178, 2179 (NBG), Blackburn in NBG5/30 (NBG); Blackburn Valley, Calitzdorp (‑DA), Smith 5073 (NBG); Gamka Mt. Reserve (-DA), Lloyd 1007 (NBG); Rietvlei (-DA), Oliver 5283 (NBG); W. Oudtshoorn (-DB), Smith 834, 2171, 2177 (NBG).  3322 (Oudtshoorn): Tierberg (-AB), Bruyns 2881 (BOL); E. Klaarstroom (-AD), Smith 2174 (NBG); Klaarstroom (-BC), Smith 2934 (NBG); Klaarstroom to Vondeling (-BC), Smith 6214 (NBG); W. Vondeling (BD), Smith 2911 (NBG); Klaarstroom to Vondeling (-BD), Smith 6213 (NBG); Minwater (-CA), Smith 2913, 2939 (NBG).  3323(Willowmore): Slypsteenberg (-AB), Fourcade 4975a (BOL); Towerpoort (-AC), Peers (NBG); Vondeling (-AC), Smith 830, 841 (NBG); Between Klaarstroom and Traka river (-AD), Burtt‑davy 12713 (PRE); SE. Willowmore (-AD), Smith 3661 (NBG); S. Georgida (-AD), Smith 3664 (NBG); Redcliffe (-BA), Bruyns 7054 (BOL); E. Willowmore (-BA), Smith 2176 (NBG); De Hoop, Miller (-BB), Schoeman (NBG); Miller (-BB), Smith 5659 (NBG); NE. Willowmore (-BB), Smith 835, 2176, 6862 (NBG), Compton 20324 (NBG); Fullerton to Steytlerville (-BD), Smith 6215 (NBG); Deugas (-CA), Smith 3663 (NBG); S. Uniondale Road Stn. (-CA), Fourcade 5385 (BOL).  3324 (Steytlerville): Campherpoort (-AA), Smith 3645, 3647, 3653, 7045 E. Steytlerville (-AD), Smith 2915 (NBG); 19km SE. Steytlerville (-BC), Smith 2915 (BOL, NBG, PRE); Kleinpoort (-BD), Smith 6216 (NBG); Couga to Zandvlakte (-CA), Smith 2902 (NBG, PRE); Kouga, Ziewefontein (-CB), Fourcade 3130 (BOL); Cambria to Zandvlakte (-CB), Smith 2928, 2902 (NBG); Heimersriver (-CD), Smith 2884 (NBG); Quagga (-DA), Smith 2937 (NBG); Cambria (-DA), Smith 2938 (NBG); Mistkraal (-DA), Smith 7093, 7101, 7104 (NBG); Ouplaas (-DB), Bruyns 7044 (BOL); Ferndale (-DB), Smith 284, 3187, 3188, 3678, 5673, 7068 (NBG), Smith in PRE 34821, Courtenay-Latimer in Smith 3678 (NBG), Smith 3189 (NBG,PRE); Quagga to Cambria (-DD), Smith 2937 (NBG).

Inadequately located: Prince Albert, Bolus 11650 (BOL), Tugwell (BOL); Graaf Reinet, Bolus 559 (BOL); Redhouse, Paterson 42 (BOL); Calitzdorp, Blackburn (BOL).

  • Haworthia viscosa JDV94/107 Kleynshoogte. Smith was, according to his unpublished records, proposing another 15 varieties of this species. The synonymy should be taken to indicate the variability of the species in the discard of varieties.
  • Haworthia viscosa JDVsn. Gamka East. Very common and widespread, and hybridizing with several other species.
  • Haworthia viscosa JDVsn. south of Calitzdorp. Sometimes the sheathing part of the leaf may be lengthened.
8070
62036
8353
Haworthia viscosa (L.) Haw.
[as Aloe viscosa L.]
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine,
vol. 21 t. 814
(1805) [S.T. Edwards]		Haworthia viscosa (L.) Haw.
[as Aloe viscosa L.]
Candolle, A.P. de, Redouté, P.J.,
Plantarum Historia Succulentarum,
vol. 1: t. 16 (1799-1837) [P.J. Redouté]		Haworthia viscosa (L.) Haw.
[as Aloe rigida Ker Gawl.]
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine,
vol. 33: t. 1337 (1811) [S.T. Edwards]
57734
133996
 
Haworthia viscosa (L.) Haw.
[as Aloe rigida (Willd.) Jacq.]
Jacquin, N.J. von, Fragmenta botanica,
figuris coloratis illustrata, t. 108 (1809)		Haworthia viscosa (L.) Haw.
Moninckx, J., Moninckx atlas,
vol. 6: t. 14 (1682-1709)		 

Haworthia Revisited – 58. Haworthia kingiana

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58. Haworthia kingiana V.Poelln., Cactus.J 5:31(1936).  V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:203(1937).  Bayer :126(1976).  Bayer :80(1982).  Scott :23(1985).  H. subfasciata var. kingiana V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:218(1938).  Type: Cape, Mrs Helm.  Not preserved:  Neotype, B&M: CAPE-3422 (Mossel Bay): Great Brak (-AA), Dekenah 201 (NBG).

kingiana: in honour of Mrs E.B. King.

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, to 180mm tall.  Leaves to 160 X 18mm, nearly as thick as wide, attenuate, spreading, lanceolate-deltoid, surfaces scabrid with raised rounded non-confluent tubercles, colour yellowish-green.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lobes abbreviated, veins pinkish.

1982 – Von Poellnitz does not record the type locality but it is known from Long’s records to have been at Great Brak, one of the very few localities where this species occurs.  It is a bright green species, smooth textured but with indistinct, flat, rounded tubercles.  It occurs to the west as far as Herbertsdale, but is very uncommom.  The colour alone is sufficient to distinguish this species from H. minima.  Occasional forms occur with very white tubercles, and completely glabrous forms have also been found.  Large specimens can be up to 150 mm tall.  Offsetting does occur but clumps seldom have even as many as 5 heads.

1999 – This species must be regarded as threatened by the extensive development in the Great Brak area.  It has been reported from the Herbertsdale area also but this is still unconfirmed.  It is known to occur north of the Robinson Pass, but it is not known how substantial it is there.  J.M. Esterhuysen has commented (private communication) on the similarity of a collection of H. minima from near Heidelberg to this species.  J.D. Venter has also collected similar bright green forms of H. minima from Heidelberg too.  There may thus be little point in maintaining H. kingiana as a separate species apart from the geographic close proximity of H. minima at Hartenbos and Mossel Bay.  In the general context of Haworthia, this is not a unique problem at all and an argument to embrace H. maxima and H. marginata as one species, could be presented on similar grounds.

H. kingiana is not very successful in cultivation and besides, few of the larger members of either the Hexangulares or Robustipedunculares are sought after by collectors.  This is, of course, after the initial enthusiasm to acquire one of every species has waned.

Distribution: 3322 (Oudtshoorn): Moeras River (-CC), Bayer & Venter 6596 (NBG).  3421 (Riversdale, Herbertsdale (-BB), Smith 6151 (NBG).  3422 (Mossel Bay): Little Brak, Barswell (-AA), Bayer (NBG); Great Brak (‑AA), Dekenah 201 (NBG), Smith 3956, 7344 (NBG), Fourcade 64 (NBG); E. Great Brak (-AA), Fourcade 387 (BOL); Outeniqua Stn. (-AB), Fourcade 194 (NBG).

Inadequately located: Mossel Bay, Britten (BOL).

  • Haworthia kingiana JDV 90/61 Great Brak. The leaf colour is green and the tubercles flattish and rounded.
  • Haworthia kingiana JDV90/61 south of Great Brak. This population was also ravaged by really mindless collecting.
  • Haworthia kingiana JDV96/1 Brandwacht. The range of leaf arrangement is much the same as in the three related species.
  • Haworthia kingiana JDV96/30 Moeras River. It was a surprise to find this species north of the Langeberg Mountains, although only two plants were located.
  • Haworthia kingiana JDV90/61 south of Great Brak. Colouration can be spectacular.
  • Haworthia kingiana JDV90/61 south of Great Brak. A plant grown from a cutting, transplanted in the hopes of re-establishing the population.

Haworthia Revisited – 59. Haworthia marginata

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59. Haworthia marginata (Lam.) Stearn, Cact.J 12:34(1938).  Bayer :133(1976).  Bayer :80(1982).  Scott :11(1985).  Aloe marginata Lam., Encycl. 1:89(1783).  Aloe albicans Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. 7:8(1804).  Salm Dyck, Monogr. 5:t.1(1854).  H. albicans Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :91(1812).  Type (B&M): icon, 80:t30, Commelin, Prael.Bot.(1703):  H. laevis Haw., Revis. :52(1821).  H. marginata var. laevis (Haw.) Jacobson, Handb.Succ.Pl. 2:567(1960).  Type: Cape, ex hort Kew.  Not preserved:  H. virescens Haw. Revis. :52(1821).  H. albicans var. virescens (Haw.) Baker, Fl.Cap. 6:343(1896).  H. marginata var. virescens (Haw.) Uitew., Succ. 21:40(1939).  Type: Cape, ex hort Kew.  Not preserved:  H. ramifera Haw. loc.cit.  H. marginata var. ramifera (Haw.) Jacobson, Handb.Succ.Pl. 2:567(1960).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved.

marginata: margined.

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, to 200mm tall.  Leaves to 180 X 20mm,  attenuate, spreading, lanceolate-deltoid, surfaces smooth without tubercles, colour pale brownish-green.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lobes abbreviated, veins pinkish.

1982 – This is the grandest and most elegant of all the species.  It is the largest after H. pumila and despite being characteristically completely glabrous, is also most closely related to that species.  They both occur together at Ashton and intermediates also occur.  At Drew and Bonnievale the populations tend to be aberrant as if hybridisation has occurred.  H. marginata was previously recorded from as far east as Riversdale and southwards to Napier.  However, it has been both severely overcollected and destroyed by agricultural development.  The result is that it is now very seldom seen in the field and must be regarded as a threatened species.  Its habitats are mostly Coastal Renosterbos but it may be found either on shales, where the plants can be very small and deeply buried, or on sandstone or Witteberg gravels standing openly on the soil surface.  The colour in the field is a very attractive glaucous silvery ‘avocado’ green.  In cultivation the plant easily becomes too green and chlorotic.  Like all five species in the Robustipedunculares it is strictly winter growing, and difficult at that.

1999 – This species seems to hybridise quite freely with both H. margaritifera and with H. minima.  Hybrids with the latter produce the similar lighter green coloration that characterises H. kingiana.  D. Cumming reports a very small form from north of Bredasdorp, where relatively normal plants (cited below) have also been observed .

Distribution: 3320(Montagu): NE. Ashton (-CC), Bayer (NBG); Drew (-CC), Fouche in PRE 39445; Bonnievale (-CC), J. Smith 13794 (PRE).  3420(Bredasdorp): Adoonskop (-AC), Bayer (NBG); Wydgelee (-AD), Barker 5341 (NBG); Koppies (-BA), Bayer 4901 (NBG); S. Heidelberg (-BB), Smith 7134 (NBG). 3421(Riversdale): (‑AB), Bayer 174 (NBG), Dekenah 4a, 5 (PRE), Fourcade 145 (NBG), Smith 5386 (NBG); Riversdale (-AB), Muir in PRE 39446.

Inadequately located: Ex hort Smith 7339 (NBG); Great Brak, Cook in NBG145/31 (BOL); Riversdale, Malherbe in NBG295/40, Ferguson (BOL), Pillans 175 (BOL), Esterhuysen (BOL); Bredasdorp, Brand in NBG 866/29 (BOL).

  • Haworthia marginata JDV90/109 south of Swellendam. A slender leaved form also occurs at Drew.
  • Haworthia marginata JDV90/95 north of Ashton. This population includes tubercled variants which are possibly hybrids with H. pumila.
  • Haworthia marginata JDV87/164 southwest of Heidelberg. The plants can grow very large.
  • Haworthia marginata JDV87/164 southwest of Heidelberg. Severely threatened by agricultural clearing, this regal species still survives in some healthy small pockets.
  • Haworthia marginata JDV86/164 southwest of Heidelberg. Plants often divide to produce two or three heads.

Haworthia Revisited – 60. Haworthia minima

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60. Haworthia minima (Ait.) Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :92(1812).  Bayer, Cact.Succ.J(U.S.) 43:157(1971).  Bayer :135(1976).  Bayer :81(1982).  Scott :17(1985).  A. margaritifera var. minima (L.) Ait., Hort.Kew. 1:468(1789).  Willd., Spec.Plant. :189(1799).  Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. :8(1804).  A. margaritifera var. minor (L.) Lam., Encycl. :88(1783).  A. margaritifera (L.) Burm.(f), Prod.Fl.Cap. :10(1768).  A. pumila var. margaritifera beta L., Spec.Pl. :322(1753).  H. granata (Willd.) Haw. Suppl.Pl.Succ. :57(1819).  Haw., Revis. :203(1821).  Apicra granata Willd. Berl.Mag. :269(1811).  A. granata (Willd.) Roem. et Schultes, Syst.Veg. 7:649(1829).  A. granata (Willd.) Salm Dyck, Monogr. 6:t6(1836).  H. margaritifera var. granata (Willd.) Baker, JLinn.Soc.Bot. 43:205(1880).  A. erecta var. laetivirens Salm Dyck, Hort.Dyck. :12((1824).  Type: icon. 20:t16,f18, Dill. Hort.Elth. (1732):  Haworthia minor (Haw.) Duv., Hort.Alenc. :7(1809).  Haw. Syn.Pl.Succ. :92(1812).  Haw. Suppl.Pl.Succ. :53(1819).  A. margaritifera var minor (L.) Ait., Hort.Kew. :468(1789).  Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. 7:11(1804).  Ker-G., Bot.Mag. :t815(1805).  A. pumila var margaritifera gamma L., Spec.Pl. :322(1753).  A. erecta Salm Dyck, 6:t7(1836)  Type: icon. 20:t16,f17, Dill. Hort.Elth. (1732):  H. margaritifera Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :55(1819).  H. major (Ait.) Duval, Hort.Alenc. :7(1809).  Aloe margaritifera var. major Ait., Hort.Kew. :468(1789).  Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. :8(1804).  Type: icon. 1:t21, Bradley, Hist.Succ.Pl. 3(1725):  H. erecta Haw. Suppl.Pl.Succ. :56(1819).  Haw., Revis. :55(1821).  H. margaritifera var. erecta (Haw.) Baker, JLinn.Soc.Bot.18:205(1880).  A. erecta (Haw.) Roem. et Schultes :649(1829).  non A. erecta Salm Dyck 6:t7(1836).  A. margaritifera var media DC. Pl.Gr. :57(1799).  A. pumila var. margaritifera gamma L., Spec.Pl. :322(1753).  Type: icon, 21:t11, Comm. Prael.Bot. (1701):  H. brevis Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :57(1819).  A. brevis Roem. et Schultes, Syst.Veg. 7:649(1829).  A. margaritifera var. minor Ker‑G., Bot.Mag. :t.1360(1811).  Type: icon, :t1360, Ker-G., Bot.Mag.:  H. margaritifera var. corallina Baker, JLinn.Soc.Bot. 43:201(1880).  Type: Ex hort. Peacock.  Not preserved:  H. mutabilis V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:132(1938).  Type: Cape, Bredasdorp, Payne 23 in Triebn.1110.  Not preserved.

minima: small.

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, to 150mm tall.  Leaves to 130 X 15mm, nearly as thick as wide, attenuate, spreading, lanceolate-deltoid, surfaces scabrid with raised flattened non-confluent tubercles, colour bluish-green.  Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax.  Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lobes abbreviated, veins pinkish.

1982 – H. minima is a small (up to 120mm high), clump forming, blue‑green species, with white tubercles and pink‑tipped florets.  It occurs in Coastal Renosterbos from Bredasdorp eastwards to at least the Gouritz River, and inland to Swellendam and Heidelberg.  Very tuberculate forms are reported in the coastal limestones and a nearly glabrous single plant from Bredasdorp was named as H. mutabilis V.Poelln.  There is no indication of any hybridisation or intergradation with either H. pumila in the west or H. kingiana in the east.  The relationship with H. poellnitziana requires detailed examination.  H. minima hybridises with H. marginata at Heidelberg (Cape).

1999 – The only interesting development concerning this species is the collection from north of the Langeberg Mountains.  It has been found at Brandrivier to the east, and still further east, northeast of Herbertsdale.  H. poellnitziana is now included as a variety of this more generally distributed species simply in recognition of popular opinion.  H. minima does develop long slender leaves, but the fact remains that there seems to be a difference in flower colour, while the distribution is also disjunct.  As is unfortunately usually the case, no herbarium specimens are provided to substantiate opinions.  The synonymy has been substantially altered follow the views expressed concerning the correct naming of H. maxima (Haw.) Duv.  My opinion has been that if the iconotypes had been properly known and understood, the nomenclature of the two species involved would have been much simpler.  H. maxima would have been seen to be the correct name for the “large pearled aloe”, and H. margaritifera for the “lesser pearled aloe”.  The old synonymy follows the types quite closely and unfortunately those who have attempted to pronounce on the nomenclature seem to have been under the impression that the iconotypes were mostly the larger of the species.  The converse is true.

a. var. minima

Distribution: 3321 (Ladismith): Brandrivier (-CC), Laidler 707 (NBG); Perdekop, Bonniedale (-DD), Matthews 1095 (NBG).  3419( Caledon): Wiesdrift (-DB), Smith 5475 (NBG); Voelvlei (-DB), Dymond (BOL); Mierkraal (-DB), Fourcade 199 (NBG)7.  3420 (Bredasdorp): Swellendam (-AA), Rotheno in PRE 39425; Bontebok Park (-AB), Bayer & Fourie 4432 (NBG); NE. Bredasdorp (-AC), Smith 5472 (NBG); Skeiding (-BB), Smith 7220 (NBG); Heidelberg (-BB), Fouche 45 (PRE), Smith 5508, 6569, 7146 (NBG); Bassonskraal (-BC), Burgers 1333 (NBG); Koenskraal (-BC), Venter 4 (NBG); Infanta (-BC), Ross-Frames (BOL); Malgas (-BC), Esterhuysen 5224 (BOL); N. Infanta (-BD), Smith 5474 (NBG); Bontebok Park (-CA), Barker 7232 (NBG); De Mond (-CA), Smith 7352 (NBG); Struisbaai (-CC), Esterhuysen (BOL).  3421 (Riversdale): SW. Riversdale (-AA), Smith 5469 (NBG); Swartheuwel (-AA), Smith 7190 (NBG); Kruisrivier (-AB), Smith 7319 (NBG); About 3km SW. town (-AB), Dekenah 3 (PRE); E. Riversdale (-AB), Smith 5375, 5486, 5757, 6087 (NBG); Vermaaklikheid (-AC), Smith 6108 (NBG); Stilbaai (‑AD), Dekenah 97 (NBG), Smith 5504, 5283 (NBG); E. Albertinia (-BA), van Niekerk 333 (NBG); E. Gouritz Bridge (-BB), Smith 3960, 7354 (NBG); N. Gouritzmond (-BD), Smith 6101, 7518 (NBG).  3422(Mossel Bay): Hartenbos (-AA), Schoeman (NBG).

Inadequately located: Ex hort., Steyn in PRE 8797; Riversdale, Ferguson (BOL), Muir in NBG616/23 (BOL); Kafferkuilsrivier, Bolus (BOL); Bredasdorp, James (BOL).

  • Haworthia minima var. minima JDV 84/81 Brandrivier. Also crossing the Langeberg Mountains, this population flowers, like the one at Swellendam, in November or earlier.
  • Haworthia minima var. minima JDV91/23 southwest of Heidelberg. A spectacular form which is very blue in colour.
  • Haworthia minima var. minima JDV89/91 north of Heidelberg. This population is proliferous and seems to include some H. marginata influence.
  • Haworthia minima var. minima JDV93/55 east of Heidelberg. Occassionally growing as single heads.
  • Haworthia minima var. minima JDV89/19 north of Heidelberg. Some of the plants are less tubercled and may also be greener in colour.
  • Haworthia minima var. minima JDV84/81 Brandrivier. The tubercles are usually smoother than is the case in H. pumila.
  • Haworthia minima var. minima JDV96/32 southwest of Bredasdorp. Remarkably able to survive the cutting of the surrounding grass for hay.

b. var. poellnitziana (Uitew.) Bayer  Comb.nov.  H. poellnitziana Uitew., Cact.Vetpl. 5:137(1939).  Bayer :146(1976).  Bayer :81(1982).  Type: Cape, Drew, Meiring.  (AMD).

poellnitziana: in honour of Dr. K. von Poellnitz.

1982 – H. poellnitziana occurs on the western extremity of the range for H. pumila, and H. minima does not occur nearer than 30km to the southeast.  H. poellnitziana has slender long leaves up to 180mm long.  They are grey‑green in colour and less blue than in H. minima, while in H. pumila the leaves are dark brownish‑green.  The flower lobes are yellowish in colour.  It is in a winter rainfall area, and grows in fynbos vegetation on old river gravels.

Distribution: 3320 (Montagu): West of Drew, Swellendam (‑CC), Smith 3947 (NBG), Fourcade 185 (NBG), Bayer 154 (NBG); Robertson, van der Merwe 225 (BOL).

  • Haworthia minima var. poellnitziana JDV90/30 northwest of Dre. H. Pumila grows vary nearby but thre does not seem to be any hybridization, as there may be with H. marginata which is also in the area.
  • Haworthia minima var. poellnitziana JDV90/30 northwest of Drew. A large robust form which is not very proliferous. Seedlings and flower colour definetly suggest the affinity with H. minima.
  • Haworthia minima var. poellnitziana MBB6624 northwest of Drew. A few plants have also been located near Drew itself, but otherwise the nearest known populations of the typical variety are at Swellendam.

Haworthia Revisited – 61. Haworthia pumila

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61. Haworthia pumila (L.) M.B.Bayer comb. nov. Aloe 16: 44 (1978). Bayer: 82 (1982). Scott: 13 (1985). Type: Comm. Hort. Amstel.: 19, t 10, (1701). Epitype (ex B&M): Karoo Garden, Worcester, Compton 78963 (NBG): Aloe pumila var. margaritifera L., pro parte, Spec. Plant.: 322 (1753). L., Spec. Plant. 2: 460 (1762). Aloe pumila (L.) Burm.(f.), Prod. Fl. Cap.: 10 (1768). Thunb., Diss.: 183 (1785). Haworthia maxima (Haw.) Duval Hort. Allene.: 7 (1809). Haw., Syn. Pl. Succ.: 92 (1812). Haw., Suppl. Pl. Succ.: 53 (1819). Aloe margaritifera var. maxima Haw., Trans. Linn. Soc.: 7: 11 (1804). A. semimargaritifera var. maxima (Haw.) Salm-Dyck, Verz. Art. Aloe: 6 (1817). H. margaritifera var. semimargaritifera (Salm-Dyck) Baker, J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 204 (1880). Type: Hort. Dyck. not preserved: Aloe margaritifera (L). Miller, Gard. Diet.: 18 (1768). Lam., Encycl.: 88 (1783). Ait., Hort. Kew. 1: 468 (1789). H. margaritifera sensu M.B.Bayer, Cact. Succ. J. (US) 43: 157 (1971). Bayer: 133 (1976).: H. semiglabrata Haw., Suppl. Pl. Succ.: 55 (1819). Neotype (B&M): Salm-Dyck, Aloes Mesembr.: 6: t8 (1837): H. papillosa (Salm-Dyck) Haw., Suppl. Pl. Succ.: 58 (1819). Haw. Revis.: 55 (1821). A. papillosa Salm-Dyck, Verz. Art. Aloe.: 6 (1817). Salm-Dyck, Aloes Mesembr. 6: 14 (1836). Type: Salm-Dyck, Monogr. 6:t4.

pumila: dwarf.

(Note: non H. pumila (L.) Duval, Hort. Alene. 7 (1809). Non Aloe pumila (L.) Haw., Trans. Linn. Soc.: 7: 10 (1804). A. arachnoidea var. pumila Ait., Hort. Kew.: 468 (1789). Aloe arachnoidea var. pumila Willd., Spec. Plant.: 188 (1799). Typified by: Boerh., Index Pl. Lugdb. 2: t131,(1720). = H. herbacea (Mill.) Stearn.).

Rosette stemless, slowly proliferous, to 250 mm tall. Leaves to 140 X 20 mm, nearly as thick as wide, attenuate, spreading, lanceolate-deltoid, surfaces scabrid with raised, rounded non-confluent tubercles, colour brownish- to olive-green. Inflorescence sparsely branched, lax. Flowers tepals fused, tube straight, lobes abbreviated, veins brownish-green.

1982 – Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of modern botanical nomenclature, and the example of H. pumila shows what confusion reigns where he did not give a clear lead.  C.L. Scott correctly resurrects the name H. pumila, although Duval had a quite different species in mind.  The confusion that resulted from Salm‑Dyck’s publication Catalogue Raisonne des especes d’ aloes (1817) has simply worsened to the present day.  This is so much the case that some of the synonyms are regarded as separate species.  H. pumila is the largest of the haworthias growing up to 300mm tall.  It is usually dark brownish‑green with large off‑white rough tubercles.  The tips of the florets are also brownish‑green.  Its distribution is primarily the Karroid Broken Veld of the Worcester/Robertson Karoo, but it occurs in the Hex River Valley, Montagu, Barrydale (unconfirmed collections) and Stormsvlei areas.  The plethora of names is not justified by the variability of the species.  Only once has a completely glabrous form ever been collected (undocumented), and it is only at Lemoenpoort south of Worcester where the plants are sparsely tubercled.  H. papillosa has only been upheld on the basis of leafy stem and regular arrangement of the leaves in vertical tiers.  This is nonsensical, as the leaves are arranged in spirals and inevitably some specimens will appear to have vertical leaf tiers (see Bayer, 1973).  A problem arises where H. marginata and H. pumila grow together as happens at Bonnievale, Ashton and Drew, because, improbable as it may seem, the two species appear to intergrade.  H. pumila is strictly a winter‑growing species.  It is seldom proliferous but clumps do occur and it can be propagated from whole leaves. In cultivation it is also sensitive to leaf aphis in the heart of the plant.

1999 – Many experienced and skilled taxonomists have given attention to the nomenclature of this species, and failed to have produced a good answer.  Part of the problem is that the types upon which the names have been based have simply not been understood.  H. pumila (Haw.) Duv. is based on the same type as H. herbacea (Mill.) Stearn, and it appears to me that it is therefore unavailable for this species.  There are actually six original illustrations to serve as types, and these are set out in the synonymies of this species and of H. minima.  If these are followed through properly, it is apparent that the name H. margaritifera Haw. follows Aiton and is based on an illustration that is also H. minima.  Haworth’s H. margaritifera is synonymous with his Aloe margaritifera var. major of 1804 which specifically excludes t10 of Commelin.  It is based on the illustration by Bradley (t21, 1725) and no one can dispute that Bradley’s description is of the smaller species (“leaves…. a little more than one inch in length”).  H. margaritifera is therefore a later synonym of H. minima.  Five of the six illustrations available as types are, in my opinion, H. minima.  This also reflects two things.  Firstly, H. minima would, by virtue of its distribution south and east of the Langeberg mountains, have been far more exposed to early exploration and travel.  Secondly it is far more amenable to cultivation than the more difficult to grow H. pumila.  The fact that competent taxonomists have failed to reach consensus and an understanding of this species leads me to unashamedly to present my own solution.  What Haworth may have written about consummate skill and unwearied attention, also seems to apply to the rules on nomenclature.  To survive in that environment seems to call for the legal mind of a judge and a minimal knowledge of the plants one is attempting to designate.

The distribution of H. pumila really is interesting as it is found in several places in the western Little Karoo, from as far north-east as the Anysberg Reserve.  It is also common in the area around Pieter Meintjies and Matjesfontein, west of Laingsburg, impinging on the Great Karoo.  The record from west of Barrydale requires confirmation.  It hybridises with Astroloba muricata near Montagu.  E. Aslander has found the same hybrid to the east of Barrydale but only observed the Astroloba.  Possibly the other parent may be H. minima.

Distribution: 3319 (Worcester): Osplaas, DeDoorns (-BC), Bayer (NBG); Worcester (-CB), Bolus (BOL); Karoo Garden (‑CB), Compton 18963 (NBG), Smith 7202 (NBG), Barker 5097 (NBG); Doornrivier (-CD), deVilliers in NBG477/36; Lemoenpoort (-CD), Bayer (NBG); Mowers (-DA), Bayer 6622 (NBG); W. Rooiberg (-DC), Bayer 6623 (NBG); Vrolijkheid (-DD), Burgers 58 (PRE); Robertson (-DD), Marloth 7982 (PRE).  3320 (Montagu): W. Matjesfontein (-AB), C.A. Smith 2508a (PRE); Jagersfontein (-AB), McKenzie (NBG); Matjesfontein (-BA), Pillans 875 (BOL); Anysberg (-BC) (NBG); Baden (-CA), Neil (BOL); near Montagu (-CB), Esterhuysen (BOL), Bolus 7513 (BOL); Robertson (-CC), Hurling & Neil 13735 (PRE); W. Barrydale (-DC), Smith 7127 (NBG).  3420(Bredasdorp): Stormsvlei (-AA), (NBG).

Inadequately located: Ex hort, Peers (NBG); Ex hort Whitehill (NBG); Cape, Marloth 5962 (PRE);

  • Haworthia pumila JDV94/17 Dublin. In this population, the plants are superficially like large plants of H. scabra. The tubercles are concolourous.
  • Haworthia pumila JDV85/59 Lemoenpoort. An odd population with lovely purple colouration.
  • Haworthia pumila JDV83/2 southwest of Worcester. There is some evidence that ‘doughnut’ tubercles occur in this population.
  • Haworthia pumila JDV90/26 Bonnievale. There are reputed to be some very large specimen in this area.
  • Haworthia pumila JDV83/2 southwest of Worcester. A remarkable and dense population.
  • Haworthia pumila JDV95/2 Rooiberg. At higher altitude on a very dry northwest slope.
  • Haworthia pumila JDV83/4 Mowers. In the natural state, every plant looks like a work of art.

Haworthia Revisited – Excluded Names

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The list of names given below cannot be placed by the present author with any confidence in any presently known species. Either the descriptions are so brief or incomplete as to make identification impossible, or illustrations cannot either be allied with known species. In many cases the names are known to be, or suspected to be, referable to garden hybrids.

 

H. affinis Bak., JLinn.Soc.Bot. 43:213(1880).  H. bilineata var. affinis (Bak.) V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:235(1938).  Type: Cape, McGibbon.  Not preserved:  See H. bilineata Baker.

H. altilinea Haw., Phil.Mag. 44:301(1824).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved: Baker (Flora Capensis, 1896), included H. mucronata Haw., H. limpida Haw. and H. aristata Haw. all under this name and probably incorrectly so.  Those three species were described simultaneously in 1819.  The origin of H. altilinea was uncertain as Haworth only indicated a certain Parmentier as the donor.  Von Poellnitz also placed H. mucronata incorrectly as a variety under H. altilinea, only subsequently recognising the correct priority of names.  He identified typical forms from Stockenstroom, Redhouse, Cathcart, Zwartkops (Zwartberg?) Mountains at Prince Albert, Hankey, and Port Elizabeth.  There is no obvious candidate species with such a distribution range and neither can the original description of a species with characteristic raised lines on the leaves be allied with a known species.  In view of the plethora of varietal epithets with similar confused geographical affinities and uncertainty concerning the application of the name, H. altilinea must be rejected as a source of confusion.  Col. Scott has applied this name in lieu of H. cooperi as used in this work, and this underscores the point that there are other solutions.

H. altilinea var. bicarinata Triebn., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 45:170(1938).  Type: Cape, Napier, Rossouw in Triebn. 1059.  Not preserved:  Plants from the same collection were named H. rossouwii V.Poelln.  This variety is inadequately described and is confused with H. rossouwii, which is a synonym of H. mirabilis.

H. altilinea var. brevisetata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:194(1937).  Type: Cape, Vanwyksdorp, STELL6690.  Not preserved:  Also described from several conflicting localities, von Poellnitz in the same year reduced this variety to synonymy with H. mucronata Haw. where it probably belongs.

H. mucronata var. polyphylla fa minor (Triebn.) V.Poelln.  Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 49:30(1940).H. altilinea var. polyphylla fa minor Triebn., ibid. 45:170(1938).  Type: Elandskop, Adelaide, Triebn. 1081.  Not preserved:  It is quite obvious from the origin that this element is connected with the H. cooperi/H. cymbiformis complex.  A recent collection from the recorded locality is cited under H. gracilis.

H. mucronata var. polyphylla fa setulifera (Triebn.) V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 49:30(1940).  H. altilinea var. setulifera Triebn., ibid. 45:170(1938).  Type: Cape, Port Elizabeth, Mrs King in Triebn.911/38.  Not preserved:  A yellowish‑green variety with marginal teeth.  It is probable that it may have some association with H. cymbiformis which does occur in that area, and none with H. mucronata.

H. angolensis Bak., Trans.Linn.Soc. 2:263(1878).  = Chortolirion angolensis (Bak.) Berger.  The transfer of this species back to Haworthia by A.A. Obermeyer (Bothalia 11: 119, 1973) is not accepted as it stands.  Haworthia is easily subdivisible into three distinct groups and any argument re‑ordering the genera should take this into account.

H. argyrostigma Bak., Fl.Cap 6:341(1896).  H. attenuata var. argyrostigma (Bak.) Berger, Das.Pflanz. 38:4(1908).  Type: Ex hort. Vienna.  Not preserved:  Baker first used this name in discussion of H. subfasciata which is also rejected here despite the possible application the name could have in place of H. kingiana.

H. aspera Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :90(1812).  Aloe aspera Haw., Trans.Linn.Soc. 7:7:6(1804).  Apicra aspera (Haw.) Willd., Hort.Berol. 5:274(1811).  Astroloba aspera (Haw.) Uitew., Succ. :53(1947).  Type: Cape, Masson.  Not preserved:  This is a name which has been taken over to the genus Astroloba despite the fact that it was clearly described as trifarious.  The name has since been excluded from Astroloba on this account by Roberts-Reinecke (unpublished).  Although it may well have been an Haworthia and comparable with H. nigra, doubt is overriding and the name is rejected.

H. asperula Haw., Phil.Mag. 44:300(1824).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved:  Although illustrated in Salm‑Dyck’s Monographia this species appears to be a dreadful source of confusion. Col. Scott in Aloe 11:30(1973), and again in his revision (1982) considered this name to apply to H. pygmaea, H. paradoxa, H. magnifica, all the varieties of H. schuldtiana, and H. pubescens; while von Poellnitz applied the name to plants from Great Brak (= H. pygmaea), Bonnievale (= H. mutica), Zebra (= H. emelyae), Uniondale (= H. bayeri) and Barrydale (= H. magnifica).  Haworth described the species as “the pale rough cushion” and stated that it differed from H. retusa in being dirty‑green, sparsely tuberculate and more lined on the exposed leaf‑face.  Leaf margins and keel were said to be ciliate‑denticulate.  Paler, scabrous forms of H. retusa are found in the Riversdale area which can just as easily be matched to Haworth’s description as any of the other names mentioned above.  Serious thought was given to using the name over H. magnifica of von Poellnitz, but the history of the name gives it little credibility.

H. baccata Smith, JS.Afr.Bot. 10:20(1944).  Type: Cape, Isidenge, Stutterheim, Smith 3527 (NBG):  This plant was given to Mr Smith by G. Mclaren and said to be from southwest of Stutterheim.  No plant of this kind is known from that area and W.E. Armstrong informed the writer that a foreman gardener of W.T. Leighton’s had collected the plant at Frazer’s Camp.  A comment by Mclaren is that the plants may have been planted into the veld judging by the poor representation there.  An isotype (Smith 3782, NBG) dated July 1944 agrees with Smith’s description, but a second (Smith 3782, BDL) does not.  The first is referrable to H. coarctata and the second to H. reinwardtii.  The name is confused and it is certain that there is no such species.

H. bijliana V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 27:134(1930).  Type: Cape, Bredasdorp, Mrs van der Bijl.  Not preserved:  This plant was first collected in 1928.  A short while later von Poellnitz described H. fergusoniae from Grahamstown and in Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:195(1937) placed it under H. bijliana, and added the localities Springbok and Oudtshoorn.  In the absence of a type it is impossible to know just to what H. bijliana refers.

H. bilineata Baker, JLinn.Soc. 18:213(1880).  Type: Cape, McGibbon.  Not preserved:  This species and H. affinis were described at the same time.  There is no knowing what these two plants really represented and so the names are discarded.

H. gracilidelineata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 31:84(1932).  H. bilineata var. gracilidelineata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:236(1938).  Type: Cape, Little Karoo, STELL5707.  Not preserved:  There is no record of this collection in a list kindly abstracted for the writer from the Stellenbosch accessions by Dr H. Herre.  Von Poellnitz could have had little reason to place his species in synonymy with H. bilineata and by the same token it is not possible to ally it with any known field population.

H. broteriana Res., Bolm Soc.Broteriana 15:159(1941).  Type: Ex hort. Lisbon.  Not preserved:  A garden hybrid.

H. cassytha Bak., Fl.Cap. 6:337(1896).  Type: Ex hort Pfersdorf:  Baker was not even certain that this was an Haworthia.

H. cuspidata Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :51(1819).  Type: Cape, Bowie.  Not preserved:  When Haworth described this species he clearly allied it with H. mucronata which he said had pointed lanceolate leaves.  The current concept of this species appears to reflect Baker’s observation (1880) that it was intermediate between H. cymbiformis and H. retusa, with no resemblance to H. mucronata.  The illustration in Das Pflanzenreich 4:107(1908) seems to bear this out.

H. columnaris Bak., JBot. 27:45(1889).  H. pilifera var. columnaris (Bak.) V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:236(1938).  H. obtusa var. columnaris (Bak.) Uitew., Succ. 29:50(1948).  Type: Ex hort. Kew.  Not preserved:  Baker related his species to H. affinis and H. bilineata and it is unlikely that von Poellnitz was correct in trying to associate it with Baker’s H. pilifera, as did Uitewaal too.  Baker would surely have seen such a connection however inadequately he perceived species.

H. confusa V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 31:83(1932).  H. minima var. confusa V.Poelln., Kakteenk. :39(1939).  H. tenera var, confusa (V.Poelln.) Uitew., Succ. :52(1948).  Type: Cape, Willowmore, STELL630.  Not preserved:  Von Poellnitz expressed doubt that the reported locality at Willowmore was correct. Other than from the fact that it was a small pellucid‑spotted species with small inconspicuous bristles there is no way of relating this name to any known species.  Von Poellnitz did say that Stellenbosch No. 630 was H. gracilis and it appears that a part of that collection included H. confusa.  It is known that the greater Willowmore area houses the H. decipiens var. minor and H. gracilis var. viridis complex and it is possible that von Poellnitz’ species may have originated in that.

H. curta Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :61(1819).  H. tortuosa var. curta (Haw.) Bak. Fl.Cap. 6:336(1896).  Type: Cape, Masson.  Not preserved:  This is another name which could perhaps be associated with H. nigra, but there is inadequate basis for a firm supposition and Baker in fact put it with H. viscosa.

H. expansa Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :91(1812).  A. rigida DC., Pl.Gr. :62(1799).  Type: Icon, DC., Pl.Gr.:  A hybrid.

H. fergusoniae V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 28: 103(1930).  Type: Cape, Grahamstown, Mrs Ferguson.  Not preserved:  Von Poellnitz likened this plant to H. gracilis.   As it was recorded from Grahamstown it could well be synonymous with that species if von Poellnitz had not also cornfused it with H. bijliana (see same).

H. ferox V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 31:84(1933).  Type: Cape, Kendrew, STELL6631.  Icon. B:  This species was submitted to von Poellnitz by Dr H. Herre of Stellenbosch from a collector living at Kendrew.  There is a photograph of the type plant in the Botanical Museum, Dahlem which is indistinguishable from Aloe humilis.  The photograph shows a plant with a large fibrous stem typically Aloe, with thick roots emerging from the absolute base of the plant stem.  Col. Scott comes to the same conclusion from a specimen at Kew.  An isotype is also in the Bolus Herbarium.  Various attempts have been made to substitute specimens for H. ferox and these include either robust forms of H. turgida or sparsely setate forms of H. unicolor var. venteri which occur southwest of Oudtshoorn.  There is a precedent here in that Aloe aristata Haw. has frequently been mistaken for an Haworthia, and after all, von Poellnitz never did see the flower of his H. ferox.

H. ferox var. armata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:200(1937).  Type: Cape, Oudtshoorn STELL5708.  Not preserved.  This variety was recorded from Oudtshoorn and an illustration in the Botanical Museum, Dahlem appears also to be that of Aloe humilis (L.) Mill.

H. foliolosa Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :99(1812).  = Astroloba foliolosa ssp. foliolosa (Haw.) Reinecke, ms.

H. glabrata var. concolor (S.D.) Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:206(1880).  Type: Ex hort.  Not preserved.

H. glabrata var. perviridis (Salm Dyck) Bak., J.Linn.Soc. 18:206(1880).  Aloe glabrata var. perviridis Salm Dyck, Monogr. 6:f13b(1849).

H. henriquesii Res., Mems.Soc.Broteriana Succ.Afr. 2:150(1941).  Type: Ex hort:  A garden hybrid.

H. hybrida (Salm Dyck) Haw., Revis. :51(1821).  Aloe hybrida Salm Dyck, Hort.Dyck. :2(1816).

H. icosiphylla Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:207(1880).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved.

H. imbricata Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :98(1812).  = Astroloba spiralis (L.) Reinecke, ms.

H. janseana Uitew., Cact.Vetpl. 6:45(1940).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved:  Said to have been related to forms of H. turgida. Judging from specimens in cultivation, this is considered to be a garden hybrid.

H. kewensis V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 49:57(1940).  Type: Ex hort Kew.  Not preserved:  Von Poellnitz said of this plant, “This certainly has come from South Africa!” Whether this statement was intended to give added weight to the validity of the species is not known, but the plant appears to have been of hybrid origin.

H. krausiana Hort. Haage & Schmidt (cit. unknown). Cultivar.

H. krausii Hort. Haage & Schmidt No. 60165 (cit. unknown). Apparently registered as a cultivar and has no significance as far as this index is concerned.

H. lisbonensis Res. et Pinto‑Lopes, Port.Acta Biol. 4:175(1946).  Type: Ex hort Lisbon.  Not preserved.

H. longifolia V.Poelln. in error Farden, Cact.J 8:34(1939).

H. mantelii Uitew., Succ. 20:37(1949).  = H. truncata x H. cuspidata?

H. margaritifera sv. acuminata (Salm Dyck) Berger, Das Pflanz. 33:78(1908).

H. margaritifera sv. laevior (Salm Dyck) Berger, Das Pflanz. 33:18(1908).

H. margaritifera var. subalbicans (Salm Dyck) Berger, Das Pflanz. 33:89(1908).  Probably the hybrid H. pumila x H. marginata.

H. mucronata var. limpida fa acuminata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 49:29(1940).  H. altilinea var. limpida fa acuminata V.Poelln. ibid. 45:168(1938).  Type: Cape, Near Adelaide, Armstrong.  Not preserved:  This form was also recorded from Hankey.  The Adelaide locality may have been an incorrect one and it is not certain to which species this form belongs.

H. mucronata var. morrisiae fa subglauca V.Poelln. in Feddes Repert. Spec. Nov. 49:29(1940).  H. altilinea var. morrisiae fa subglauca V.Poelln. ibid. 45:168(1938).  Type: Cape, Carnarvon, Roux.  Not preserved:  Localities given by von Poellnitz are often inconsistent with geographic distribution of known species, and this is a case in point.

H. multifaria Haw., Phil.Mag. 44:300(1824).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved:  Haworth likened this species to H. retusa but Baker (Fl.Cap. 6:349, 1896) placed it in synonymy with H. mirabilis.

H. nigricans Haw., Phil.Mag. 44:301(1824).  Type: Not known:  Col. Scott is possibly correct in suggesting that this was H. nigra but it is also not unlikely that it could have been one of the really dark forms of H. scabra.

H. pearsonii Wright, Kew Bull. :365(1907).  This species is insufficiently known and its origin is obscure.  The illustration in the Kew herbarium is very suggestive of H. marumiana.  Scott suggests that it is synonymous with H. decipiens but the long spreading perianth lobes depicted in the illustration, the narrow leaves and the description ‘ciliate on the margins’, seem to belie this possibility.

H. pellucens var. delicatula Berger, Das Pflanz. 33:(1908).  H. translucens var. delicatula (Berger) V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:226(1938).  Type: Marloth 4208.  Not preserved.

H. pentagona (Ait.) Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :97(1812).  = Astroloba pentagona (Ait.) Uitew.

H. perplexa V.Poelln., Kakteenk. 6:67(1938).  Type: Cape, Grahamstown.  Not preserved:  F.R. Long wrote to von Poellnitz that this plant was a natural hybrid.  Private communication with Miss G. Britten, Miss G. Blackbeard and Mr W.E. Armstrong indicates that the plant was collected at Howiesonspoort, Grahamstown and was the natural hybrid H. cymbiformis X H. angustifolia.

H. polyphylla Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:213(1880).  Type: Cape, Cooper.  Not preserved:  As with other species described by Baker, there is no certainty about the application of this name which von Poellnitz associated with H. mucronata Haw.

H. pseudogranulata V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 41:208(1937).  Type: Cape, Oudtshoorn, STELL5711.  Not preserved:  This species is insufficiently known.  Only four plants were collected near Volmoed (Armoed), Oudtshoorn.  A specimen ostensibily from Ladismith, has been seen by the writer and it is a variant of H. venosa ssp. tessellata.  H. tessellata var. tuberculata was described from De Rust.

H. radula var. asperior Haw., Revis :54(1821).

H. radula var. laevior Haw., Revis.:54(1921).

H. radula var. magniperlata Haw., Revis.:54(1821).

H. reinwardtii var. minor Bak., JLinn. Soc. 18:202(1880).  Type: Ex hort.  Not preserved:  There are many small forms of H. reinwardtii but Baker’s description cannot be used to confirm if his variety belongs here or with H. coarctata.

H. resendeana V.Poelln., Des.Pl.Life 10:225(1938).  Type: Not preserved:  Of doubtful origin and considered to be an unknown triploid hybrid.

H. revendettii Uitew., Cact.Vetpl. 6:44(1940).  Type: Ex hort.  Not preserved:  A pentaploid hybrid of unknown parentage.

H. rigida (Lam.) Haw., Revis :49(1821).  A. rigida (Lam.) DC. Pl.Gr. :t62(1799).  Type: Icon. :t62, DC., Pl.Gr.:  This is considered to have been of hybrid origin.

H. rodinii nom.nud.  A name recently brought into use for apparently the very obtuse‑leaved form of H. turgida from the Gouritz Bridge, Albertinia i.e. H. turgida var. suberecta?.

H. rubrobrunea V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 49:57(1940).  Type: Ex hort. Kew.  Not preserved:  Only presumed to have come from South Africa, this is also taken to be an unknown hybrid.

H. rugosa (Salm Dyck) Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:206(1880).  A. rugosa Salm Dyck, Hort.Dyck. :323(1834).  Type: Ex hort.  Neotype: icon, 6:f9, Salm Dyck. Monogr.(1837).  The long synonymy of this element is not worth the effort of resolution.

H. rugosa var. perviridis (Salm Dyck) Berger, Das Pflanz. 4:33:92(1908).  As with the preceding, it is difficult to imagine how many names would have resulted had more of these horticultural accidents been perpetuated as species.

H. ryderiana V.Poelln., Des.Pl Life 9:103(1937).  Type: Cape.  Not preserved:  Described from a plant sent to Kew by a Mrs Ryder of Durns, England and compared by von Poellnitz with his H. willowmorensis, with H. cuspidata and H. mirabilis,  none of which can make sense.

H. sampaiana Res., Bolm Soc.Broteriana 14:192(1940).  Type: Ex hort. Lisbon.  Not preserved.

H. sessiliflora Bak., Fl.Cap. 6:353(1896).  Type: Cape, Cooper.  Not preserved:  The recurved leaves suggest one of the retuse haworthias in which almost-sessile flowers may occur.  It cannot be allied with any known species.

H. setata var. subinermis V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 10: 150(1936).  Type: Cape, Ladismith, Joubert.  Not preserved:  Had this variety been more fully described and more precisely located the name may have been required to take precedence over H. mucronata var. integra or H. mucronata var. inconfluens.  Von Poellnitz (1938) placed it in synonymy with H. aristata at the same time as he did his H. unicolor.

H. skinneri (Berger) Res., Mems.Soc.Broteriana: Succ.Afr. 3:77(1943).  Type: Not preserved:  The natural hybrid Astroloba muricata x H. maxima.

H. spiralis Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :97(1812).  = Astroloba spiralis (Haw.) Uitew.

H. spirella Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :97(1812).  = Astroloba spirella (Haw.) Uitew.

H. stenophylla Bak., Hook. Ic.Pl.(1874).  = Chortolirion angolensis (Bak.) Berger.

H. stiemiei V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 44:227(1938).  According to Col C.L. Scott (private communication), Mr Stiemie had no knowledge of such a species or of having collected such a plant.  It is possibly a variant of either H. translucens or H. arachnoidea var. xiphiophylla which occur in areas neighbouring Kirkwood, where H. stiemiei was purported to have been collected.

H. subattenuata (Salm Dyck) Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:205(1880).

H. subfasciata (Salm Dyck) Bak., J.Linn.Soc. 18:204(1880).

H. subrigida (Roem.et Schultes) Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:201(1880).

H. subulata (Salm Dyck) Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:206(1880).

H. tauteae Archibald, Fl.Pl.Afr. 2S:992(1946).  Type: Cape, George, Taute (GRA).  This is a natural hybrid H. viscosa x H. scabra which was found at Kleinspoort east of Oudtshoorn.

H. tenuifolia Engl., Bot.Jahrb. 10:2(1889).  = Chortolirion angolensis (Bak.) Berger.

H. tisleyii Bak., JLinn.Soc. 18:208(1880).  Type: Not preserved:  A form of H. attenuata possibly resembling this element has been recorded from near Enon by P.V. Bruyns.

H. tortella Haw., Suppl.Pl.Succ. :61(1819).

H. tortuosa Haw., Syn.Pl.Succ. :90(1812).

H. tortuosa var. major (Salm Dyck) Bak., Fl.Cap. 6:336(1896).

H. tortuosa var. pseudorigida (Salm Dyck) Berger, Das Pflanz. 33:79(1908).

H. triebneriana var. lanceolata Triebn., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 47:10(1939).  Type: Not preserved:  Here there is also a double and conflicting habitat citation, viz. Gouritz River, Albertinia and Wolfkloof, Robertson.  H. mirabilis grows at neither of these places, nor is there any other element common to both places.

H. triebneriana var. nitida V.Poelln., Feddes Repert.Spec.Nov. 49:28(1940).  Type: Cape, Bonnievale, STELL7782.  Not preserved:  There is therefore some doubt that it belongs with H. maraisii rather than with H. mirabilis.

H. species var. typica.  Current botanical nomenclature makes provision for the repetition of the species name if a variety is described.  For example if the name H. glauca var. herrei is established, then automatically, the name of the typical variety H. glauca var. glauca is established.  The old‑fashioned use of H. glauca var. typica is not permitted.

H. uitewaaliana V.Poelln., Cact.Vetpl. 5: 115(1939).  Type: 48 km east of Riversdale, Fouche.  Not preserved:  It is quite probable that this was an almost glabrous form of H. minima or perhaps a hybrid H. minima x H. marginata.  The latter species is, however, not known from that far east of Riversdale.

H. walmsleyi Hort. Haage and Schmidt No. 58129 (cit. unknown). Cultivar.

 

 

Haworthia Revisited – Landscape and habitat

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Even living in South Africa and frequently moving about in the countryside, it is very difficult to appreciate the magnitude of the task of trying to understand Haworthia. The scale and the extent of the problem is only appreciated after many many footsore  miles. The terrain where  the plants grow is invariably rocky and steep, the rocks and soil loose underfoot and access often denied by fences and gen­eral inaccessibility. A false sense of understanding is given by those populations which can be seen from the window of a car – and despite the small size of the plants, there are many populations which are that easy to find.

However, the problem is in trying to establish similarities and differences between different populations – in trying to find something which might not be there. Populations can be so small and restricted, or the plants so cryptic, that it can often only be claimed of an area that no plants were found. And not that nothing is present there.

The following pictures are to give some indication of what the countryside is like where these intriguing plants grow and to indicate that there is still a lifetime of exploration which can be done. Hopefully this will be done by some­ one who has a sense of the natural order of things and an appreciation and respect for the desirability of leaving things that way.

  • In  the vicinity of the Anysberg. H. pumila occurs, but this is really the home of H. mucronata var. inconfluens and H. lockwoodii. H. pulchella is on the higher slopes.
  • From the Skurweberg at Robertson looking south to McGregor. These are hills of Witteberg Sandstones and a home for mostly H. maraisii. The furthest hills are the Riviersonderend Mountains with an incredible and surprising admixture of H. maraisii and H. mirabilis. Although there is considerable agricultural development, the only species in this area which has suffered is a population of H. mutica to the east.
  • Spitzkop at Riversdale. These flat-topped small peaks and larger tablelands are ferricrete caps often associated with clayish soils on the slopes. They are often the home of Aloe ferox and A. arborescens. Sometimes there are grassy patches and pressure bursts of bare clay. H. magnifica and H. serrata occur in this kind of situation. However, these ferricrete sills are also north of the Langeberg mountains, where species like H. emelyae and H. bayeri may occur.
  • Skitterykloof in the Ceres Karoo. A very arid area where both H. venosa var. granulata and H. arachnoidea var. namaquensis may be found. Aloe comosa also occurs here, but less well-known is that it also occurs on the slopes of the Koedoesberg to the east.
  • Ghaapkop. Matjesfontein, looking south to the Witteberg. The haunts of J. Archer and W. Pieterse, the collectors of H. marumiana var. archeri and H. wittebergensis respectively. The latter is from those high mountains. Beyond them lies H. lockwoodii – to the southeast H. pulchella. H. arachnoidea var. scabrispina, H. nortieri var.pehlemanniae and H. viscosa are nearby.
  • Bonnievale to Swellendam. Looking over a rich mosaic of vineyards .This is from a site where there is a very confounded population of H. maraisii which includes the variety meiringii and plants which are identifiable as H. heidelbergensis. The scene is towards Drew and the habitats of H. reticulata var. attenuata, H. minima var. poel/nitziana, H. marginata,
    H. maraisii, H. heidelbergensis, H. pumila and also Aloe glauca and A. brevifolia.


  • At the bridge on the N2 highway over the Breede River.In rolling wheatfields in what must have been Renosterveld. A frustrating terrain because of the many inaccessible small likely looking islands in a highly cultivated landscape. The steeper shale slopes are clothed in an arid bushveld with Aloe ferox. H. turgida var. longibracteata likes this habitat. H. venosa var. venosa, a intermediate between H. maraisii and H. mirabilis, H. marginata, H. minima and H. floribunda are also nearby.



  • Campherpoort The home of H. zantneriana, H. glauc.a var . herrei and H. decipiens var. minor. Rugged dry terrain with many ridges and slopes.


  • Seweweekspoort through the Klein Swartberg Mountains. A long winding pass with Euphorbia horrida, Aloe ferox, and H. mucronata var. habdomadis .

  • Howiesonspoort west of Grahamstown. Best known for H. coarctata var.greenii, but also H. cymbiformis and the hybrid with H. angustifolia (ie. ‘H. perplexa’ ). The cymbiformis are being shaded out by exotics and where they used to be fertilised with Dassie droppings, they grew like cabbages.
  • Herbertsdale from Cloetes Pass, looking southward into the lower Gouritz valley. A very unexplored area. There are very dense succulent thickets with Aloe ferox, Aloe speciosa and Aloe arborescens. H. chloracantha var. chloracantha grows here. H. kingiana has been reported here, as has H. pygmaea.
  • The Rooiberg from Ribbokkop southeast of Worcester. Ribbokkop is home to H. herbacea and H. reticulata as well as H. arachnoidea. The Rooiberg is an awe-inspiring massif, and all the more so when attempting to explore it. Covering more than 130 sq.km., it is a slab of Witteberg quartzite overlying and interfolded with Bokkeveld shale, and also touched by Dvvyka tillite. Who knows what is on it? H. pumila, H. maraisii, H. reticulata and a tiny population of the recently described H. herbacea var. flaccida.
  • West of Merweville. A real karoid landscape. Hoodia dregeii is endemic here. Haworthias are at their limits of survival and only Haworthia decipiens var. cyanea seems to be comfortable. On the northern perimeter of the drainage basin. the steeper slopes may harbour H. semiviva, H. nigra and also H. marumiana var. archeri.
  • The Witteberg north-East of the Anysberg. A seemingly endless vista of rocky ridge upon rocky ridge, mostly unexplored.

  • View from the Swartberg looking towards Oudtshoorn. Ostrich farming country and the roads give little indication of the succulent richness of the area. Apart from the remarkable H. truncata, there are the strange variants of H. scabra, nearly all of the diversity of H. arachnoidea and H. mucronata, H. bayeri and H. emelyae. To the south there is
    H. outeniquensis, H. kingiana makes a tiny bow, while H. montico/a var . asema occurs towards the west.
  • Kathoek and the limestones of the Southern Cape near Bredasdorp. It is strange that these limestones harbour a vegetation related to the acid sandstone of the Cape System. H. minima occurs untroubled by the different soils, but H. variegata and H. mirabilis both seem to adopt new guises.
  • East of the Rooinek Pass, south of Laingsburg. Home to H. wittebergensis and nearly all the Astrolobas, and to the rare Quaqua linearis. H. bayeri puts in a strange appearance here too. H. lockwoodii and H. mucronata meet here and there is also confoundment of H. marumiana var. dimorpha and H. arachnoidea. The rapid changes from shales to sandstone, and the very diverse habitats in such a rugged terrain, must lead to ecotypic adaptations.
  • The Fish River at Kaffirdrift, famous for all the variants of H. reinwardtii which so fascinated G.G. Smith. The Euphorbia thickets may be impenetrable but the area is home to H. angustifolia var. paucifolia as well as H. cymbiformis and H. gracilis var. tenera.
  • The steep slopes to the east of the Valley of Desolation, Graaff-Reinet. To climb three of these slopes in a day is a herculean challenge. To see and understand Haworthia better than is presented in this book, will require that kind of dedication, commitment and effort.

  • Sleutelfontein in the Prince Alfred area. The home farm of a born naturalist, Mr Pat Marinckowitz. H. decipiens, H. viscosa, H. nigra and H. marumiana occur here. H. monticola is also in the ridges to the south-east, with H. vlokii further south and H. lockwoodii to the west.

Haworthia Revisited – Bibliography

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BAKER, J.G  
     1871.Genus Haworthia Duval. Refugium Botanicum 4:t232 et seq (1871).
     1880.A synopsis of Aloineae and Yuccoideae. Journal of the Linnean Society 18:148.
     1896.Haworthia Duval. In: Flora Capensis 6:333.

BARKER, W.F., et al.
     1942.Plantae novae africanae, Series 18. Journal of South African Botany 8:246.

BAYER, M.B.
     1962.A new variety of Haworthia limifolia from Natal. Journal of South African Botany 28:215.
     1970.Haworthia as a problem genus. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 42:25
     1971.Changes in the genus Haworthia Duval. ibid. 43:157.
     1971.Haworthias in the Robertson Karoo ‑ South Africa. Journal of the Cactus and Succulent Society of New South Wales 8:9.
     1972.Anguish among the Haworthias. Cactus and Succulent Journal of Great Britain.
     1972.Natural variation and species delimitation in Haworthia Duv. Part 1. Haworthia reticulata Haw. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 27:10.
     1972.do. Part 2. H. herbacea (Miller) Stearn. ibid. 27:51.
     1972.A new species of Haworthia (Liliaceae). Journal of South African Botany 38:125.
     1972.Reinstatement of the genera Astroloba and Poellnitzia (Liliaceae ‑ Aloineae). National Cactus and Succulent Journal 27:77.
     1973.Leaf spirals in Haworthia. Aloe 11:31.
     1973.Two new species of Haworthia (Liliaceae). Journal of South African Botany 39:249.
     1973.Natural variation and species delimitation in Haworthia Duv. Part 3. H. reinwardtii Haw. and H. coarctata Haw. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 28:80.
     1974.Haworthia Duv.: Section Retusae fide Scott ‑ Additional comment. Aloe 12:89.
     1974.Haworthia ‑ small relatives of Aloe. Excelsa 4:17.
     1974.New Haworthias. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 42:75.
     1975.The retuse Haworthias. Excelsa 5:83.
     1976.Haworthia Handbook. National Botanic Gardens of South Africa, Kirstenbosch.
     1977.Corrections to Haworthia Handbook. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 32:18.
     1977.Haworthia mirabilis Haw. Excelsa 7:37.
     1978.Reflections on G.G. Smith’s Haworthia collection: 1. H. retusa (L.)Duv.: 2. H. mutica Haw. ibid. 8:46.
     1979.Natural variation and species delimitation in Haworthia Duv. Part 4. Haworthia emelyae V. Poelln. and a new variety. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 34:28.
     1980.Looking for Haworthias. Calandrinia :57. Succulent publications of South Australia.
     1980.A story of Haworthia nitidula V.Poelln. (= H. mirabilis Haw.). Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 52:10.
     1981.Three new species of Haworthia. Journal of South African Botany 47:789.
     1981.Natural variation and species delimitation in Haworthia Duv. Part 5. Haworthia angustifolia V. Poelln. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 37:31
     1982.Observations on the G.G.Smith collection of Haworthia. National Cactus and Succulent Journal (Great Britain) 37:105.
     1983.New Haworthia Handbook. National Botanic Gardens of South Africa, Kirstenbosch.
     1986.Haworthia and nomenclatural confusion. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 4:8.
     1986.Haworthia – confusion reigns again. Excelsa 12:91.
     1987.Natural variation and species delimitation in Haworthia Duv. Part 6. Haworthia maculata (V. Poelln.) Bayer. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 5:13.

BAYER, M.B. and PlLBEAM, J.W.
     1974.Name changes in Haworthia concerning H. obtusa Haw. and H. pilifera Bak. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 46:166.

BERGER, A.
     1908.Liliaceae‑Asphodeloideae‑Aloineae. In: Engler, A., Das Pflanzenreich N (Heft 33):74.

BEUKMAN, RUTH AND VLOK, JAN.
     1991.A nurse-patient association: Hypodiscus and Haworthia. Aloe 28:90.

BRANDHAM, P.E.
     1969.Chromosome behaviour in the Aloineae: i. The nature and significance of E‑type bridges. Chromosoma (Berl.) 27:201.
     1969.do. ii. The frequency of interchange heterozygosity. ibid. 27:216.
     1970.do. iii. Correlations between spontaneous chromatid and subchromatid aberrations. ibid. 31:1.
     1971.The chromosomes of the Liliaceae. Kew Bulletin 25:381.
     1974.Interchange and inversion polymorphism among populations of Haworthia reinwardtii var. chalumnensis. Chromosoma (Berl.) 47:85.

BRANDHAM, P.E. and CUTLER, D.F.
     1981.Polyploidy, chromosome interchange and leaf surface anatomy as indicators of relationships within Haworthia section Coarctatae Baker (Liliaceae‑ Aloineae). Journal of South African Botany 47:507.

BRANDHAM, P.E. and JOHNSON, M.A.T.
     1977.Population cytology of structural and numerical chromosome variants in the Aloineae (Liliaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 128:105.

BROWN, J.R.
     1934.Notes on Haworthias. Desert Plant Life (1934‑37, 1946).
     1937.Notes on Haworthias. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) (1937‑1965?).
     1957.A brief review of the genus Haworthia. ibid. 29:129.

CHINNAPPA, C.C. and SEMPLE, C.C.
     1976.Chromosome aberrations in a diploid Haworthia subfasciata. Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology. 18:281.

CRAIB, C.
     1990.Some rare Haworthias in South Africa. Aloe 27:23.

CUMMING, D.
     1987.The affinities of Haworthia bruynsii. Bayer. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 5:3.

CUTLER, D.F.
     1978.The significance of variability in epidermal cell wall patterns of Haworthia reinwardtii var. chalumnensis (Liliaceae). Revista Brazileira de Botanica 1:25.
     1979.Leaf surface studies in Aloe and Haworthia species (Liliaceae); taxonomic implications. Tropische und Subtropische Pflanzenwelt 28:447.
     1985.Haworthia spp. (Liliaceae) with window leaves: SEM studies of leaf surface adaptations. Parodiana 3:203.

DODSON,J.W.
     1946.Haworthia Review. The Succulent Liliaceae League of America. 1 & 2.

DUVAL, H.A.
     1809.Plantaesucculentae in Horto alenconio. (see W.T. Stearn, The Cactus Journal 8:105, 1939).

DYER, R.A.
     1937.A note on the occurrence of vivipary in Haworthia truncata Schonl. South African Journal of Science 33:335.

ESTERHUIZEN, J.M.
     1992.Some notes on Haworthia magnifica V.Poelln. var. magnifica and Haworthia magnifica var. atrofusca (G.G.Smith) Bayer. Aloe 29:
     1992.In search of Haworthia heidelbergensis Smith. Aloe 29:64.
     1996.More notes on Haworthia heidelbergensis G.G.Smith  as well as Haworthia magnifica V.Poelln. var. magnifica and Haworthia magnifica var. atrofusca (G.G.Smith) Bayer. Aloe 33:15.

FEARN, B.
     1966.Windowed Haworthias. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 21:28.

FOURCADE, H.G.
     1932.Contributions to the flora of the Knysna and neighbouring divisions (H. monticola). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 21:78.

HAWORTH, A.H.
     1804.A new arrangement of the genus Aloe. Transactions of the Linnean Society 7:1.
     1812.Synopsis plantarum succulentarum.
     1819.Supplementum plantarum succulentarum.
     1821.Revisiones plantarum succulentarum.
     1824.Second decade of new succulent plants. Philosophical Magazine and Journal 44:300.
     1825.Fifth decade of new succulent plants. ibid. 46:280.
     1827.Description of new succulent plants. ibid. 7:123.
     1827.Description of new succulent plants. ibid. 2:346.
     1828.Description of new succulent plants. ibid. 3:186.

HAYASHI, M.
     1987.Callus characteristics and classification of Haworthia and allied species. Journal of South African Botany 53:411.

HUTCHINSON, P.C.
     1951.Studies in the genus Haworthia Duval :1. Vegetative variation in the section Fenestratae V.Poelln. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 23:99.

JACOBSEN, H.
     1951.Haworthia Duval: Review of sections and species. Sukkulentenkunde 4:97.
     1965.The genus Haworthia Duval. Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten 3:7.

KAUL, K. and SABHARWAL, P.S.
     1972.Morphogenetic studies on Haworthia: Establishment of tissue culture and control of differentiation. American Journal of Botany 59:377.
     1975.Morphogenetic studies on Haworthia: Effects of inositol on growth and differentiation. ibid. 62:655.

MAJUMDAR, S.K.
     1970.Production of plantlets from the ovary wall of H. turgida var. pallidifolia. Planta 90:212.
     1970.Culture of Haworthia inflorescences in vitro. Journal of South African Botany 36:63.
     1979.In vitro culture of flower buds of Haworthia and Astroloba. Phyton 27:31.

MAJUMDAR, S.K. and RILEY, H.P.
     1967.Chromosomal alteration in relation to speciation in Haworthia. Advancing Frontiers of Plant Sciences 18:63.
     1970.Pollen conditions in Haworthia species and hybrids. American Journal of Botany 57:742.
     1973.Chromosome numbers, pollen fertility and pollen size in Haworthia species and hybrids. Canadian Journal of Botany 51:1753.

MAJUMDAR, S.K. and SABHARWAL, P.S
     1968.Induction of vegetative buds on inflorescence of Haworthia in vitro. American Journal of Botany  55:705.

MAJUMDAR, S.K. and SCHOLOSSER, S.A.
     1972.Morphological and histological studies of the effects of sodium cyclamate on Haworthia callus in vitro. Canadian Journal of Botany 50:1013.

MAJUMDAR, S.K. and SULLENDER, J.S.
     1977.The fine structure of 2,4‑D induced tumor cells of Haworthia variegata. Phyton 35:145.

MARX, GERHARD.
     1996.Mixed windows in the wild. Aloe 33:18.

MOTOHASHI, T., KANOH, K., HAYASHI, M. AND KONDO, N.
     1985.Relationships between polyploidy and geographical distribution in the genus Haworthia (Liliaceae-Aloineae). Science Report 2:87, Res. Instit. Evol. Biology, Tokyo.

PILBEAM, J.W.
     1969.Haworthia tortuosa. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 24:41.
     1970.The first fifty Haworthias. The Succulent Plant Institute, England.
     1971.Haworthia reinwardtii (S.D.)Haworth. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 26:54.
     1971.Haworthia reinwardtii (supplement). ibid. 26:77.
     1971.Haworthia viscosa. ibid. 24:56.
     1975.The second fifty Haworthias. The Succulent Plant Trust, England.
     1978.Haworthia and Astroloba – a collectors guide.

RESENDE, FLAVIO.
     1940.Haworthia marlothiana Marloth. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 48:114.
     1940.Haworthia limifolia Marloth fa. marlothiana. Boletim da sociedade Broteriana 14:200.
     1943.Succulentas africana 3. Memorias da sociedada Broteriana. 2:94
     1946.Variability and taxonomy in the genus Haworthia. Portugalia acta biologica B :1.

RESENDE, FLAVIO and PINTO_LOPES, J.
     1946.4.Contribution to a better geno-sistematic knowledge of the Coarctatae section of the genus Haworthia Duval. Portugalia acta biologica B 2:175.

RESENDE, FLAVIO and VON POELLNITZ, K.
     1949.Variedades novas da Haworthia tessellata Haw. Broteria 11:49.

RESENDE, FLAVIO and ANTONIO, VIVEIROS.
     1948.Caryological studies in the Aloinae. Portugalia acta biologica A 2:176.

RILEY, H.P.
     1959.Polyploidy in Gasteria and Haworthia. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 86:81.
     1968.Chromosomal interchanges and evolution in the Aloineae. In: Seminar on Chromosomes.

RILEY, H.P. and MUKERJEE, D
     1962.Two aneuploid plants of Haworthia. Journal of Heredity 53:105.
     1965.Some new chromosome studies in the Coarctatae and other sections of Haworthia. The Nucleus 8: 149.

RILEY, H.P. and ISBELL, C.J.
     1963.Paper chromatographic studies in the Aloineae: 1. Preliminary observations on some species of Haworthia. Journal of South African Botany 29:59.

RILEY, H.P. and HOPKINS, J.D.
     1964.Paper chromatographic studies in the Aloineae: 2. The Rigidae and Retusae sections of Haworthia. In: C.A. Leone, Taxonomic Biochemistry and Serology. Ronald Press, :255.

RILEY, H.P. and MAJUMDAR, S.K.
     1965.Some polyploid plants of Haworthia. Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology 7:357.
     1966.Chromosome studies of diploid and polyploid plants of Haworthia. Botanical Gazette 127:239.
     1966.Cytogenetic studies of an aneuploid species of Haworthia with special reference to its origin. Journal of Cytology and Genetics. 1:46.
     1966.Some further chromosome studies in Haworthia. American Journal of Botany 52:626.
     1967.Heterochromatic segments in Haworthia and Gasteria at low temperature. Journal of Heredity 58:297.
     1968.Three new chromosomal translocations in Haworthia. Canadian Journal of Genetics 10:487.
     1980.The Aloineae. A biosystematic survey. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington.

RILEY, H.P., MAJUMDAR, S.K. and HAMMACK, R.E.
     1966.A chromosome translocation in three Haworthia plants. Bulletin of the Association of Southeastern Biologists 13:45.
     1967.Chromosomal translocations in three plants of the genus Haworthia. Canadian Journal of Genetics and Cytology 9:683.
     1969.Meiosis in a triploid Haworthia with a chromosomal translocation. Journal of Heredity 60:255.
     (Voucher specimens supporting most of Prof. Riley’s published chromosome counts are deposited in the Compton herbarium (NBI) at Kirstenbosch.)

ROBERTS, MEL.
     1983.The genus Haworthia Duval: past and present. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 1:30.

ROWLEY, G.D.
     1967.A numerical survey of the genera of Aloineae. Natn.Cactus Succul.J. 22:71
     1976.Generic concepts in the Aloineae.  Part 1. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 31:31.  Part 2. Idem. 31:54.

SALM‑REIFFERSCHEID‑DYCK, J.
     1817.Catalogue raisonne des Especes d ‘Aloes (see W.T. Stearn, The Cactus Journal 7:34, 1938).
     1820.Observations botanicae (1820‑22).
     1822.Index Plantarum succulentarum in Horto Dyckensi (1822 and 1829).
     1834.Hortus Dyckensis.
     1836.Monographia generum Aloes et Mesembryanthemi (1836‑42, 1849‑63).

SCHONLAND, S.
     1910.On some points in the morphology and biology of a new species of Haworthia (H. truncata). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 1:391.

SCOTT, C.L.
     1965.A new species of Haworthia. Journal of South African Botany 31:123.
     1967.Haworthia maughanii V.Poelln. Cactus and Succulent Journal of Great Britain 29:26.
     1968.A new species of Haworthia. Journal of South African Botany 34:1.
     1970.A new species of Haworthia from the Eastern Cape. ibid. 36:287.
     1973.A revision of the genus Haworthia, section Retusae. Aloe 11:8.
     1976.The identity of Haworthia cymbiformis var. obtusa (Haw.) Baker and Haworthia pilifera Baker. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 48:260.
     1977.The identity of Haworthia arachnoidea (L.) Duval. ibid. 49:205.
     1978.The correct application of the name Haworthia pumila (L.) Duval. Aloe 16:44.
     1978.The identity of Haworthia arachnoidea (L.) Duval. ibid. 16:41.
     1978.The reinstatement of relegated Haworthia species. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 50:74.
     1979.Haworthia altilinea Haw. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 34:53.
     1979.A new species of Haworthia. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 51:268.
     1980.Diversity in the species Haworthia scabra Haw., and H. tuberculata V.Poelln. ibid. 52:274.
     1980.Haworthia aristata Haw. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 35:11.
     1980.Haworthia pearsonii C.H. Wright. Aloe 18:7.
     1981.Haworthia reinwardtii Haw. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 36:36.
     1981.Haworthia viscosa (L.) Duval. National Cactus and Succulent Journal 36:98.
     1981.Some species of Haworthia in the Eastern Cape Province. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 53:70.
     1981.A new variety of Haworthia. ibid. 53:124.
     1983.Haworthia mucronata Haw. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 1:97.
     1984.A new species of Haworthia (Liliaceae – Aloineae) sect. -Retusae. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 56:69.
     1985.The Genus Haworthia, a taxonomic revision. Aloe Books.
     1994.A new species of Haworthia, H. reddii. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 66:182.
     1994.A new species of Haworthia (Asphodelaceae) –  H.pringlei. Bradleya 12:102.
     1995.A new species of Haworthia (Asphodelaceae) – H.joeyae. Bradleya 13:80.

SCHNEIDER, Christel
     1972.Anatomische Untersuchungen an den Blattern einiger Arten von Haworthia. A thesis for Botanical Institute, University of the Saarland.

SCHARGI, S
     1972.Methods and techniques in micropropagation of Haworthia by tissue culture. A thesis for Louisiana State University and Agricultural College.

SMITH, G,F.
     1989.Notes on Haworthia glabrata (Salm-Dyck) Baker. Aloe 26:18.
     1990.Haworthia fasciata (Willd.) Haw. forma fasciata. Aloe 27:92.
     1991.Populations of Haworthia fasciata are dwindling in urban Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 9:42.

SMITH, G.F. and GREYLING, H.P.
     1990.Neotypification of Aloe glabrata, basionym of Haworthia glabrata (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae). Taxon 39:331.

SMITH, G.F. and VAN WYK, B.
     1991.Generic relationships in the Aloineae (Asphodelaceae). Taxon 40:557.

SMITH, G.F., STEYN, E.M.A., STEYN, C. and VAN WYK, A.E.
     1996. Notes on the leaf anatomy of Chortolirion and Haworthia (Aloaceae). South African Journal of Botany.

SMITH, G.G.
     1943.Some new species and varieties in the genus Haworthia: I. Journal of South African Botany 9:93.
     1944.do. II and III. ibid. 10:137.
     1945.do. IV. ibid. 11:65.
     1946.do. V. ibid. 12: 1.
     1948.do. VI. ibid. 14:41.
     1948.Views on the naming of Haworthias. ibid. 14:55.
     1950.Some transfers in the genus Haworthia. ibid. 16:1.
     1950.Some new species and varieties in the genus Haworthia: VII. ibid. 16:3.
     1950.A reply to Mr. Uitewaal. Cactus and Succulent Journal of Great Britain 12:64.

STEARN, W. T.
     1938.An annotated index to Salm-Dyck’s Monographia Generum Aloes et Mesembryanthema. Cactus Journ.(GB) 7.:40.
     1939.Plantae succulentae, in Hort Alenconia. Auctora H.A.Duval. ibid. 8:105.

TERBLANCHE, R.F., SMITH, G.F. and GREYLING, H.P.
     1993.Did Scott typify names in Haworthia (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae)?  Taxon 42:91.

TJADEN, WILL.
     1985.A choice of name: Haworthia margaritifera or Haworthia pumila. British Cactus and Succulent Journal. 3:88.

TRIEBNER, W. and VON POELLNITZ, K.
     1938.Haworthia planifolia Haw., Haworthia cymbiformis Haw. and Haworthia altilinea Haw. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 45:161.
     1938.Haworthia triebneriana V.Poelln. ibid. 47:8.

UITEWAAL, A.J.A.
     1938.Haworthia albicans and its varieties. Succulenta 20:140.
     1939.A change of name for reasons of priority in the genus Haworthia. ibid. 21:40.
     1939.Haworthia luteorosea Uitew. spec. nov. Cactussen en Vetplanten 5:88.
     1939.Historical notes of the Aloineae. Succulenta ?:?.
     1939.One new species of the genus Haworthia. Cactussen en Vetplanten 5:137.
     1940.Haworthia marumiana Uitew. spec. nov. ibid. 6:33.
     1940.Two known but undescribed Haworthias. ibid. 6:44.
     1947.A first attempt to subdivide the genus Haworthia, based on floral characters. Desert Plant Life 19:133.
     1947.Revision of the nomenclature of the genera Haworthia and Apicra. Succulenta 26: 51-54.
     1948.Revision of the nomenclature of a few Haworthias II. ibid. ?:49.
     1949.Views on the classification of Haworthias. Cactus and Succulent Journal of Great Britain 11:19.
     1951.Today’s knowledge about the small‑flowering Aloineae. Sukkulentenkunde 4:91.

VENTER, J.D. and HAMMER, S.A.
     1997.New and old species of Haworthia Duval from the Little Karoo. Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 69:75.

VON POELLNITZ, Karl
     1929.Contribution to the knowledge of the genera Haworthia Duv. and Gasteria Duv. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 27:132.
     1929.Haworthia schmidtiana V.Poelln. spec. nov. ibid. 26:23.
     1930.Contribution to the knowledge of the genera Haworthia Duv. and Gasteria Duv. ibid. 25:101.
     1932.do. ibid. 31:82.
     1933.Haworthia starkiana V.Poelln. spec. nov. ibid. 33:73.
     1933.Three new Haworthia species. ibid. 33:239.
     1935.One new Haworthia species: H. maraisii. ibid. 38:194.
     1936.Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Haworthia Duv. ibid. 40:148.
     1936.Key to the genus Haworthia Duval. The Cactus Journal 5:28.
     1936.New Haworthia species. Kakteenkunde 10:89.
     1937.Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Haworthia Duv. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 41:193.
     1937.Four new species of Haworthia. ibid. 42:269.
     1937.Five little known species of the genus Haworthia Duval. Desert Plant Life 9:90.
     1937.Four little known South African succulent plants. ibid. ?:33.
     1937.Four new Haworthia species. Kakteenkunde 10:152.
     1937.Haworthia attenuata Haw. Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten 10:165.
     1937.Haworthia schmidtiana and related forms. ibid. 10: 168.
     1937.New species and varieties of the genus Haworthia Duval. The Cactus Journal 6:18.
     1937.New species in the genus Haworthia Duval. Kakteenkunde 9:132.
     1937.Six new species of Haworthia Duval. Desert Plant Life 9:100.
     1938.Concerning the sections in the genus Haworthia Duv. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 44:200.
     1938.Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Haworthia Duv. ibid. 43:92.
     1938.Haworthia Duv.: Scabrae Berger, Retusae Haw. and Coarctatae Berger. ibid. 43:98.
     1938.Haworthia fasciata (Willd.) Haw. and related forms. ibid. 43:94.
     1938.Haworthia fasciata (Willd.) Haw. The Cactus Journal 6:?.
     1938.Haworthia planifolia Haw. and Haworthia perplexa V.Poelln. Kakteenkunde 53-54 cont. Kakteenkunde 6:67.
     1938.Haworthia tuberculata V.Poelln and its varieties. The Cactus Journal 7:56-57
     1938.Haworthia woolleyii V.Poelln. ibid. 7:3..
     1938.Four new species of Haworthia Duval. Desert Plant Life 11:192.
     1938.New forms in the genus Haworthia Duv. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 44:132.
     1938.Two new species of Haworthia Duv. Kakteenkunde 7:75.
     1939.A new species of Haworthia. Cactussen en Vetplanten 5:115.
     1939.Three new forms of the genus Haworthia Duval. Desert Plant Life 2:8.
     1939.Two unusual Haworthia species. Beitrage zur Sukkulentenkunde und ‑Pflege 1:45.
     1939.Two new Haworthia species. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 46:271.
     1940.Concerning Haworthia Duval. ibid. 49:23.
     1940.Two new Haworthia species. ibid. 49:57.
     1940.Haworthia reinwardtii Haw. Beitrage zur Sukkulentenkunde und ‑Pflege 2:41.

VOSA, C. and BAYER, M.B.
     1981.Chromosome studies in the South African Flora: 10-21. Journal of South African Botany 47:687.
     1986.Chromosome studies in the South African Flora: 38-57. Caryologia 39:325

WESSELS, D.C.J., GROENEWALD, E.G. and KOELEMAN, A.
     1976.Callus formation and subsequent shoot and root development from leaf tissue of Haworthia planifolia cf. var. setulifera V.Poelln. Zeitschrift fur Pflanzenphysiologie 78:141.

ZANTNER, A
     1937.Interesting African leaf succulents. Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten 10:170.
     1942.do. Beitrage zur Sukkulentenkunde und ‑Pflege 1:13.
     1947.Interesting leaf succulents. Sukkulentenkunde 1:40.
     1951.Rare, interesting Haworthia species. ibid. 4:94.

WIJNANDS, D.O.
     1984.Haworthia margaritifera (L.) Haw. niet Haworthia pumila (L.) Duval. Succulenta 10:230.

WHICHER, PAUL,
     1993.Problems of synonymy in the genus Haworthia. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 11:12.

ZANTNER, A. and VON POELLNITZ, K.
     1938.One new Haworthia species. Feddes Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 43:232.

Beware of the dog (1999)

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The title of this article could also be “Haworthia is people”, but titles are difficult. This one is prompted by an article I saw in Readers Digest. The article was about the impact of the (in?)famous Kinsey Report on human sexual behaviour. The closing sentence was “As far as Albert Kinsey was concerned, the watchdogs of science were asleep at the switch.”

I find myself in a curious role. How many writers have a long trail with so many followers crossing it behind? I can actually vaguely remember meeting G.W. Reynolds as a four-year old. Looking back I regret that I did not make more of the contact I had with people who were part of Haworthia and my interest. These included G.G. Smith, Prof. Compton, R.A. Dyer, Miss Verdoorn, W.G. Armstrong, G.J. Payne, Meiring, Beukman’s daughter, Mrs. Taute’s family, Doreen Court (daughter of Mrs. Morris), Gordon King, Grace Blackbeard, Frank Stayner, J.W. Dodson and so many others. Why did I never write to J.R. Brown to whom I owe so much?

Who else has stretched their interest over so long a period and found their trail becoming so criss-crossed behind. Looking over my shoulder I see quite a string of prospective and aspirant writers on Haworthia. I see myself occupying the same kind of place in their minds that the people above have done in mine. Not being dead yet, makes me realise that while alive and available for comment and information, there is no call.

What my disappointment has been, is that despite so many interested people, there have been very few that I have felt to be kindred to. If I consider where I started, I have also to consider where I end. If I consider what I learned, I can consider what I can teach. To my dismay I seem to have learned too little, and tried to teach too much.

Now I have written a second book to examine myself as much as what those on my trail are doing. I do not want to throw in the towel like Smith did, and neither do I want to leave unfinished business. What unfinished business is there? Haworthia has not been fully explored nor explained.

1. Exploration.
a. I myself have many records which are not part of the herbarium record and neither are they part of the source from which collectors have drawn. There are also records gleaned by others which are available to some collectors but not to me. One reason is that I have actively discouraged collection and avoided undisciplined and unprincipled collectors like the plague. A principle of science is ‘No secrecy’. I would like to observe this and have tried to keep locality records on the basis of “well you never asked”. It is not nice to mention names and I will not do so, but there are several persons who have really exceeded the bounds of the rational in their collecting activity.

Conservation agencies are, in my experience, helpless to do anything other than create a climate which deters honest people from venturing to pluck so much as a leaf. Less conservative, conscientious and sensitive souls function without qualm at the other extreme. Do I hide the records or do I appeal to the Haworthiophile community to institute their own code of conduct?

b. Records can also be ‘intellectual and experiential individual property’. I saw that in the ‘Aloe’ era, that there were collectors where this concept was manifest at extreme levels. Persons with no insight or understanding of what Reynolds had done in terms of record, were accumulating, obscuring and losing data which could have enriched that considerably. This is, and has happened in Haworthia too. For a decent book to be written on Haworthia there has to be a decent physical record. Several people have fiddled and faddled with Aloe since Reynolds, and have made several big changes. In the light of knowledge and record, the changes they have made are trivial. These fiddlers have not done more than what Reynolds did, and neither have they even reached the experiential level that he had.

2. Explanation.
a. I have tried to see classification as a scientific process based on facts and undisputeable observation. It is very evident that it is not treated like that. In the subgenus Haworthia, classification is just imagery. What I have done is to place this imagery in the real physical world of geographic space, based on a life-long experience of ‘classification’ of this kind, and thus inferred from my knowledge of other genera. In order to question the image I have, the viewer has to stand either where I have stood, or to seek a better and higher viewpoint.

b. Science is driven by question and answer. Answers generate more questions. Science is knowledge and knowledge is only really referable to that which is true. The philosophy of science is expressed at an intellectual level that few of us are able to reach and I do not pretend to.

So what has this to do with dogs? Science is driven by publication and peer review. A scientist becomes recognised by publications and responses to those publications. A scientist and science writer is kept on the track of truthfulness and knowledge by the responses he gets. These responses by competent and peer scientists constitute the watch tower of truthfulness, credibility and authority. These place beacons along the path of knowledge which is surely the one we wish to travel.

My complaint, first expressed in 1986, was against reviewers. My strongly held view was that instead of providing direction, they were doing the opposite. I thought the dogs were asleep, untrained or just turning a blind eye to the scene. Where nomenclature is concerned, it is another matter. There is another hungry breed here which scavengers for scraps. I have indulged in ‘polemic’ because it is is the mechanism for attack and defence of doctrine. The doctrine I have tried to defend appears to be a fantasy of my own. I have felt the absence of competent and wakeful watchdogs and have tried to fill the role myself – in vain. So that is the dog I have been, apparently barking at the dark – alone.

A shadow of the past – Haworthia arachnoidea again. (1999)

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M.B.Bayer, 16 Hope St., Cape Town

In the welter of words that has arisen around the enigmatic enigma, it has occurred to me that this information may help bring some perspicacity to the way we think about Haworthia and names.  Somehow or other I have forgotten to examine how Col. Scott came to apply the name arachnoidea in the way he did.  It is really curious that the whole story is so intricately woven in the rise and fall of my own career, and shows how the greater wheels of politics and economics grind down the least of us.

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The intractable problem of look-alikes in Haworthia. (2001)

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The classification of Haworthia and particularly the sub-genus Haworthia is fraught with difficulty, because it is so difficult to circumscribe species either in writing or pictorially.  The solution I have followed is to recognise species as geographic systems, knowing that there are continuities which can only be resolved where the systems co-exist as apparently independent entities.  Even this is difficult because it is actually seldom that true co-existence occurs.  Usually when two species (even of different sub-genera) occur in close proximity, they occupy different habitats.  In some such cases it is possible to reasonably conclude that the differences in appearance are only at the level induced by that difference in habitat, or at a higher level at which they can be taken to be discrete systems.  With the small qualitative differences that actually determine these subjective judgements, there seems to be little that can be done to quantify them.

In this article I will just discuss a few examples which I can support with photographic evidence, and inform readers that there is far more extensive published and unpublished manuscript and photographic evidence available.

Starting with H. decipiens var. pringlei.  This element has an independent history in which it can be argued that it can be upheld as discrete if one so wishes, placed with bolusii var. blackbeardiana with good reason, and combined either with H. aristata sensu Bayer, or with H. cooperi.  The picture I use is of JDV93/48-1 of co-type material of Scott’s pringlei from north-east of Middleton.  Then I take MBB6872-2 of H. gracilis var. isabellae from the Krom River estuary south-west of Humansdorp.  I also use JDV90/80-3 from Engelandsekloof in the Baviaanskloof which is blue-green in colour and hence H. cooperi var. gordoniana.  From there I leap to H. mucronata var. mucronata MBB6872-4 from Pietersfontein north-west of Montagu .

It is then not a substantial leap qualitatively, although it is geographically, to go to JDV97/8-5 Ouplaas at the base of the Cockscomb, north of the Baviaanskloof.  This element is H. gracilis var. isabellae, and an observable connection between that element and H. decipiens var. minor.  But I have illustrated two clones – one which is more characteristic in that it has few spines, and one which is a lot spinier.  There is not much difficulty in finding reciprocity with JDV97/63-6 H. cooperi var. cooperi at Glen Avon, Somerset East, or with MBB6556-7 at the inland Ripon Station near Middleton (cooperi or pringlei!).  Nor is it difficult to go from there to MBB6799-8 north-west of Patensie, again cooperi var. gordoniana.  There is a problem that there are again both spined and unspined forms MBB6799-9.

Going back to arachnoidea and mucronata.  There are a few localities where these two elements can be said to co-exist, but within the limits which I described above.  Mucronata is not always clearly separable from arachnoidea.  The difference lies only in the degree of translucens of the leaf margins, with arachnoidea having no marginal translucence, and mucronata with.  MBB6867-10 is two clones of arachnoidea from north-east of Montagu, near Ouberg.  The plants do not have translucence, but they do exhibit a block-pattern on the leaves.  This block-pattern can apparently become translucent but I have not observed it closely enough to really know what the significance is.  When spines with translucent bases occur on the leaf surfaces, there is similarity with H. marumiana var. dimorpha.  But before getting excited about these ‘characters’, lets look at a collection MBB6883-11 from between Montagu and Barrydale.  This population is not unique in terms if the variation it exhibits.  I show three clones. one is probably comparable with -10 from Ouberg, while the other two are somewhere on the way to mucronata.  I would refer them to arachnoidea var. nigricans only because of the absence of translucence.

How significant this tranlucence is, is hard to say.  JDV98/83-12 is a plant from Sapkamma, which I class as H. decipiens var. minor.  It is unusual in that it has the block pattern and no translucence in contrast to all the other specimens in the collection which are highly translucent.  Thus the distinction we use to separate arachnoidea and mucronata is somewhat diluted, and it certainly means that xiphiophylla is more probably linked to decipiens than it is to arachnoidea, where I have placed it.

A further demonstration of the value of translucence and patterning of the leaves is obtainable from MBB6850-13.  This is a collection of H. cymbiformis var. obtusa frm Swartwaterpoort.  The collection is probably unusually variable.  One plant has no tranlucence and only the block patterning, another has marginal tranlucence, and a third has a very reticulate patterning of the leaf-end, with marked translucence.  The degree of ‘windowing’ of the leaves is very variable in other populations too.  H. cymbiformis var. setulifera in MBB6573-14, Highclere, Cathcart (and the classification here is shaky, as the plants are uncharacteristic for either setulifera  or reddii and certainly also for the only other geographic candidate which is blackbeardiana).  My picture shows a plants with a highly reticulate windowing of the leaf.

In MBB6771-15, which is a collection of H. gracilis var. picturata from Moordenaarskloof in the Longkloof, I try to show that the translucent reticulation can vary.  The illustrations do not show this very well, but the windows can be large and rounded, or narrow and elongate.  The degree of spination is also variable.  It has to be noted too that this element falls into a no-mansland between cooperi as gordoniana, and cymbiformis as transiens – what to say of its classification as a gracilis variant.  Lastly I illustrate for interest mainly, a collection of H. cymbiformis var. reddii frm Inverbolo in MBB6843-16.  This was actually collected first by P.V. Bruyns and the illustrations must convince anyone of the affinity with Waterdown Dam – reddii.  Bruyns has also recorded this element from Inversomo, although the clones in cultivation have a small (very small) element of doubt attached to it because of the Inverbolo collection.  The plants are interesting because the translucence is fairly obscure.  If viewed with the light source behind the plants, the translucence of the leaves is very much more obvious; showing up as block-patterning with the light behind the viewer.

It is a fascinating subject and I say repeatedly that the problems of classification in Haworthia are very much more common in other plant families and genera than plant taxonomists want to admit. ♦

Haworthia Update Volume 7 – Essays on Haworthia by Bruce Bayer

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Seven chapters in four parts:
Chapter 1 – Haworthia retusa ‘nigra’ – Another grand finale
Chapter 2 – Further exploration in Haworthia. Further to finale
Chapter 3 – A field trip to the Potberg area
Chapter 4 – What is typical Haworthia mutica?
Chapter 5 – Still more Haworthia mutica and Haworthia mirabilis
Chapter 6 – Field trip to Van Reenes Crest and Niekerkshek
Chapter 7 – More on Haworthia mirabilis and H. mutica from east of Bredasdorp

Bruce Bayer’s Haworthia Update Essays on Haworthia Volume 7 is A4 size, printed on A3 paper, folded and stapled. Part 1. has  63  A4 pages,  Part 2.  83,  Part 3. 57 and  Part 4. 48. The field work is profusely illustrated with plant  photographs, maps and a pie chart. Part 1 has over 330 photos, Part 2 over 280, Part 3 over 330 and Part 4. over 160. Recommended retail price is £45.50  + p & p. It may be ordered from good book sellers.