Gasteriaspecies aka ox tongue , are little , strap - leaved succulents that make wizardly and unique houseplant .
‘ Little Warty ’ is one of the most common , but there are so many other delightful options too , including those with speckled , variegated , or striped foliage .
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G. acinacifolia.
There are some 29 unlike specie , along with a seemingly countless figure of cultivars and hybrids .
These succulent plants are very easy to hybridize and they can even cross with aloe and haworthias !
Ourguide to growing gasteriasprovides an in profundity look at their care needs .
G. acinacifolia.
This guide will introduce 23 of the most fabulous types of gasteria succulents commonly found in finish .
Ready to get started ? Here ’s a sneak peek at our listing :
23 Types of Gasteria
If you ’re hop-skip for an indifferent opinion of these succulent , permit me warn you that you wo n’t get that here . I ’m a devoted gasteriafanatic !
In addition to draw the characteristic of these plant life , I ’ll also let you know about any out of the average develop considerations you should be aware of , such as unusual cold tolerance .
1. Acinacifolia
have ’s start with one of the large species , G. acinacifolia , a plant that reaches two feet tall and wide-eyed .
The leaf are green with bands of light green to white-hot spots , and have fine serrated margins and sharp steer .
Known as dune giant gasteria , coast ox tongue , andkus beestongin Afrikaans , the leaves of this coinage are stemless . The foliage is analogue , spear- , strap- , sickle- , or scimitar - shaped .
That last descriptor is what give rise to the species epithetacinacifolia , which means scimitar leaves .
These clump - forming succulents have still or just somewhat approximate foliage which stands just or lie flat with tips upcurved . The leaves on juvenile plants are arranged in two diametrical rows , but age into rose window .
This species bears pink to orange prime with unripened tips that blossom from bound to summertime .
In its native range , G. acinacifoliagrows on coastal dunes or rocky coastal ridges where it is adapted to a balmy climate .
This species is not undertake to be Robert Lee Frost liberal though some agriculturist cover it survives short exposure at temporary as low as 25 ° F .
G. acinacifoliacan be grown in a range of idle exposures , from full sun to shade but it will be happy in part sun to light shade – or just about four hours of direct sun , rather in the morning .
2. Armstrongii
IfG. acinacifoliais a giant among gasterias , this next selection , G. armstrongii , is a dwarf .
Sometimes yell cow tongue , flat leafage gasteria orplatblaar beestong , G. armstrongiihas thick , dark green , tongue - forge leaves covered with light unripened or browned bumps , giving the works a rough texture .
Foliage spring up curving downward and hugging the filth , in opposite words on very compact flora that make up to 10 column inch all-encompassing and just two inch marvelous .
They can be either only – without set-back – or can form little clumps .
This species is named after a South African industrial plant partisan , William Armstrong , and it received the Royal Horticultural Society ’s Award of Garden Merit in 2002 .
Formerly classified asG. nitidavar.armstrongii , flat folio gasteria has cerise pink heyday with yellowish unripened lead that flower in summertime .
In the wild , these dumb growing succulents farm flush with the ground , in rocky soils , making them practically obscure .
3. Batesiana
Known as wart leafage gasteria , orknoppies beestong , G. batesianais most well have sex for being one of the parent of the famous cultivar ‘ Little Warty , ’ which you ’ll learn more about by and by in this clause .
The leafage of this succulent species is dark fleeceable with band of raised , wart - corresponding , white or light-colored fleeceable bumps .
The farewell curve down and have rounded end , with ( amazingly ! ) sharp tips , and are extremely rough in texture .
Young leaves are strap - shaped , growing in two opposite rows until the flora matures , when it take away on a rosette flesh . matured parting are triangular to spear - shaped on clippety-clop plants .
In the wild , this species has lots of variability of human body and texture , but in general they reach three to 12 inches all-inclusive and one to four inches tall .
They bear pinkish orange flowers with green tips in outpouring .
The species namebatesianahonors an English trolley conductor by the name of John Bates who happened to be a gatherer of South African succulents .
G. batesianareceived the Royal Horticultural Society ’s Award of Garden Merit in 2002 .
In its native range , G. batesianais a cliff dweller , adapted to frost free winters .
4. Baylissiana
Also known as Suurberg ox tongue , G. baylissianahas spit shaped leaf that are light grayish to dark grayish commons to disconsolate blue green in color .
The leaf has a dense and slightly rough coming into court , make by the humble grayish white bumps that cover the leave-taking .
These upright , sports fan - shape , industrial plant never take on a stem canker shape , instead the leaves remain produce in two opposite rows .
Plants commonly grow in thud that reach one and a half in to two and a one-half inches tall , with a spread of around four inch .
Flowers are bright ruby-red pinkish with green and white chess opening , and are normally born in fall .
With a species name thathonors an English flora aggregator by the name of Colonel Roy Bayliss , this coinage bring home the bacon the Royal Horticultural Society ’s Award of Garden Merit in 2012 .
In its aboriginal range , this gasteria uprise in the crevices of quartz and sandstone rock faces in shade , and is adjust to light hoar .
5. Bicolor
Lawyer ’s natural language , classified botanically asG. bicolororG. obliqua , has metier to drab green , narrow leaf , mottle with creamy smudge .
The foliation has a legato or slightly rough control surface with folio tips that usually take on a pinkish glow .
leaf are additive or glossa shape with sharp tips that are off center , on plants that turn good or lean to one side .
Unlike most other gasteria succulents , this one has stem , which can reach two to eight inches long .
This clumping metal money reaches 15 to 18 inch improbable and six to 12 inches spacious , growing in opposite rows or in rosettes that often have an untidy appearing .
It bear heyday that are pink with green confidential information , blooming in late winter to early fountain .
This gasteria can tolerate very loose Robert Frost , down to about 30 ° F .
Lawyer ’s Tongue Gasteria
you’re able to purchase lawyer ’s glossa gasteria in four - inch pots from Ragnarocvia Walmart .
6. Brachyphylla
usually known as inadequate – leaved gasteria , G. brachyphyllahas shoulder strap - shape dark green leaves with crinkled margins and bands of white spots .
Although adolescent leaves have a gravelly open , mature leafage is smooth to the touch .
With upright inner leaf and upcurving outer one , this specie has a fan - same growth habit , reach three to nine inches wide and one to nine in tall .
hold pinkish flowers that bloom in spring , this species ’ botanical namebrachyphyllacomes from the Greek word meaning short leave of absence .
This species is ho-hum growing but easy to cultivate , and is cold sturdy to about 30 ° F .
7. Brevifolia
G. brevifoliasucculents are thickset , reaching six to eight inches wide and three to five inches marvelous .
They take on a rosette growth habit as they age , and are made up of short green leaf which inspire the species name , brevifolia , which is Latin for short leaves .
With upright center foliation wall by leaf that fan or spiral downwards , the leaves of this ox tongue have a rough texture and are covered with blank bumps .
This mintage is currently considered unplaced taxonomically speaking and there ’s no sure thing about where its native compass is or was .
Nonetheless , general gasteria care will keepG. brevifoliain good health .
This plant life bears pinkish flowers in springtime .
8. Carinata
Known as Bredasdorp gasteria or keeled ox tongue , G. carinataspecimens exhibit a lot of unevenness in surface pattern , form , and size .
ordinarily the leave are trilateral to spear - shaped with sharp top , and are a tiresome , intermediate to dreary green people of colour with clean wart .
The undersides of the leaves are either lash out or keeled , like the bottom of a boat . This feature is what inspire the botanical namecarinata .
These clopping gasterias are stemless , spreading from six in to two feet wide and with a tiptop of just over one inch to up to seven in tall . The center leaves are unsloped while those surround them curve upward .
This species bear pink to salmon colored flower from wintertime to late spring , and is insensate audacious to about 30 ° F .
dwell Keeled Ox spit
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9. Disticha
Commonly known as Great Karoo ox clapper , G. distichahas shoulder strap - form leaves arrange in two opposite rows .
This arrangement is what revolutionise the plant ’s species name , disticha , which mean two lines .
Green leaves feature ring of thick white position on both English , and each leaf has a rounded remainder with a crisp peak .
The leafage has a rocky texture with notched leafage margins , and is often more or less wavy .
These plants have a clop growth habit and are fairly large , reach one to two feet tall and wide . The newer , center folio grow upright , while the older outer leaves fan downwards .
In its native home ground , this gasteria grows among bush and bumpy rock outcrop .
This obtuse grower acquit pink to reddish pink flowers with light-green tips from wintertime to spring , and is cold-blooded hardy to 25 ° farad .
10. Excelsa
love as brushwood gasteria , thicket ox tongue , regal ox clapper , orruigte beestong , G. excelsahas green leaves flecked with large , indistinct place .
The leaves are triangular and spring spiky rosettes on mature flora , but are arrange in two polar course in juveniles .
Also , while adolescent leaves are raspy , adult foliage is smooth – but both have sharp edges .
These succulent plant gain two to two and a half foot wide and one to two foot marvellous , and are more probable to grow as nonsocial rosettes than as clumps .
illumination pinkish to white in colour , peak are borne in summer on towering inflorescences that attain over six feet tall – urge on the species nameexcelsa , meaning idealistic .
In the wild , this species make its menage on shady subtropical cliff cheek and in brushwood .
11. Flow
‘ Flow ’ is an interspecies intercrossed , classified as xGasteraloe , refer a cross betweenG. carinatavar.verrucosaand an unknownAloeorAristaloespecies .
This cultivar has thick , triangular leaves that are emerald unripened with lily-white wart . The leaf point come to a sharp detail and folio gross profit margin are serrated .
Exhibiting a clumping growth habit , ‘ menstruum ’ plants form six- to eight - inch tall and eight - inch wide spiky rosette .
xGasteraloe‘Flow , ’ a cross between a gasteria and a skinny relation from another genus .
‘ flowing ’ has coral flowers that miss the little stomachs of true gasteria blooms , and are instead tubular .
Although it ’s an intergeneric loan-blend , rise requirement are the same as for gasterias .
xGasteraloe‘Flow ’
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12. Frosty
‘ Frosty ’ is a variegate gasteria cultivar whose foliation is to a great extent streaked with white , light green , or silver on a background of medium green with white topographic point .
While its true ancestry are unsettled , some say ‘ Frosty ’ was a sport , or by nature pass off mutant ofG. brachyphylla .
erect or horizontal folio are arranged in two diametric rows , on fan - shaped , clumping flora that develop seven to eight inches all-encompassing and six to eight inches tall .
The flower of ‘ Frosty ’ are coral with dark-green point , blooming in springtime .
13. Fuji Yuki
A variegated cultivar , ‘ Fuji Yuki ’ has fat leaves influence like tongues . These upright or upcurving leave of absence have serrate edges and are dark green mottle with white , cream , silver medal , or lily-livered .
maybe a cultivar ofG. nitida , these succulents have a clopping growth habit , forming two paired rowing , or look at on a thin helix to almost rosette growth habit .
They reach three to 10 inch broad and up to five inches improbable .
With a name that mean the blow of Mount Fuji , ‘ Fuji Yuki ’ has reddish pinkish peak .
Want to impart somesnowto your houseplant collection ?
‘ Fuji Yuki ’
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14. Glauca
With the vulgar names Kouga River gasteria andKouga beestong , G. glaucahas fatness , shoulder strap - shaped leaves with sharp tips that arise in two opposite wrangle when young , take on a rosette form at maturity .
Overall , the leaves convey a grayish dark-green or bluish green issue – the leaf is actually green but thick covered with pale hump , giving it a rough texture and paler colour .
There are even tubercles on the leaf margins .
These gasterias grow in clumps with stacks of offsets , create impenetrable clusters that reach 10 inches wide and three to four inch improbable .
Inner leaves grow erect while older leaves spread horizontally and curve downwards .
The flower ofG. glaucaare pink to reddish pink with dark-green yellowness to yellow top . The specie nameglaucarefers to the bluish fleeceable foliage .
These cliff dweller originate from a warm , temperate , and humid climate , and do not tolerate freeze .
15. Glomerata
G. glomeratafeatures thick , short , tongue- or shoulder strap - shaped leave that are greyish dark-green or blue green . These leaves have rounded or squared off ends with precipitously pointed tips .
unremarkably known as Kouga gasteria orKouga beestong – just likeG. glauca – the texture of the foliage is rasping , covered with flyspeck tubercles , but no spots .
These succulent do n’t form rosettes as they mature , but instead the leave of absence remain in two opposite rows .
However , they are fertile offset producer , form dense clumps that have a rounded , mounding appearance , with flora arrive at about four inch magniloquent and one invertebrate foot wide .
The species nameglomerata , which think of cluster , refer to the densely clumping growing habit of this gasteria , which produces reddish pink to orange flowers with green openings in saltation .
G. glomeratagrows on rocky quartz and sandstone cliffs , and is adapted to hot summers and balmy wintertime .
16. Gracilis
G. gracilisis not formally recognise as a member of theGasteriagenus but it is nonetheless out there in the horticultural world and is frequently sell by succulent sellers .
These gasterias display a lot of variableness – flora can have spear- , strap- , or tongue - shaped leaves that are upright to upcurved , and may be unripe with spot , grey common , or pale green tinged with yellowish pink .
They tend to be two to three inches wide and about three and a one-half to four in tall .
With a coinage name that mean graceful or slight , the flower ofG. graciliscan blossom any time of the year , but generally do so in the midsection of winter through saltation .
17. Green Ice
‘ Green Ice ’ is another intergeneric hybrid like ‘ Flow , ’ described above .
Some say ‘ Green Ice ’ is a hybrid ofGonialoe variegataand aGasteria , while others claim it ’s a cross betweenGasteriacultivars ‘ Little Warty ’ or ‘ Old Man Silver ’ andAloe descoingsii .
Whatever the true statement of its blood line , the botanical name is xGasteraloe‘Green Ice . ’
‘ Green Ice ’ has triangular leaves in dark green with full , silvery to light up fleeceable margin hold on heavyset , spiky , clumping rosette . The leaves are flecked with striking , gamy dividing line white spots .
When queer to intense light , leaf takes on a paler , pinkish hue .
These clop plants reach eight to 12 inch tall and wide . They initiate off mature in a fan - like shape , but as they mature they take on a whorled growth wont .
Flowers are tubular , pink Bolshevik at the base , and xanthous green at the mouthpiece .
x Gasteraloe ‘ Green Ice ’
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18. Liliputana
A naturally occurring variety of one of the species we have already encountered , G. bicolorvar.liliputanamay be the smallest gasteria out there !
G. bicolorvar.liliputanahas narrow leaves that are tranquil and shining , and dark gullible with light place .
These succulents have a densely clumping growth habit , and can reach just one to four inches tall and wide-eyed , displaying foliage that mostly curves down and is arranged in a spiral .
This recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society ’s Award of Garden Merit in 2012 has flowers that are cerise pink and can come along all twelvemonth long , but are take over most often in wintertime and spring .
The multifariousness nameliliputanarefers to the tiny , trivial nature of this gasteria , inspired by the fancied island of Lilliput from Jonathan Swift ’s Word , “ Gulliver ’s travel . ”
In this gasteria ’s aboriginal range , G. bicolorvar.liliputanagrows in rocky grease , is adjust to summertime rainwater and ironical winters , and is hardy to about 30 ° F .
springy Gasteria Liliputana Plant
you may buy a liveG. bicolor var . liliputanaplant in a four - in potfrom Planet Desert via Amazon .
19. Little Warty
Certainly the most iconic of all the gasterias , ‘ Little Warty ’ has it all – variegation , stripes , bump , and plenty of branch .
This cultivar is a cross betweenG. batesiana , bring up above , and cultivar by the name of ‘ Old Man Silver . ’
Good destiny come up ‘ Old Many Silver ’ now – ‘ Little Warty ’ now top the popularity chart !
There ’s heap of unevenness , but what you ’ll unremarkably find is a succulent with mostly upright leaves , streaked with light K or silver on a moody green background , and speckle with tiny berth .
The leaves are strap regulate to triangular , with sharp points on the summit , and are cover up with small bumps , which give the plant its cultivar name .
The foliage is either arranged in two paired rows , or in a partial or full stem canker shape .
‘ Little Warty ’ produce offsets which give the flora a clip-clop outgrowth habit , with a meridian of six to eight inch and an eight - in spread .
A success of the Royal Horticultural Society ’s Award of Garden Merit in 2012 , the bloom are pink , and can appear at any time from later wintertime through summer .
Live Little Warty Plant
you may buy ‘ Little Warty ’ plants from the Succulents Box Store in your option of a two- or four - column inch , mud or plastic potvia Amazon .
get a line more about ‘ Little Warty ’ here .
20. Marmorata Variegata
G. marmoratavariegatais another gasteria with a bit of an identity crisis , but since she ’s so beautiful , I ’m including her anyway .
This succulent has triangular strap - forge leaves that are pattern with a veil of grooved , white and eloquent vertical stripes , cover a background of dark putting surface and bands of blank superman .
These variegated leaves look like they were hewn from marble – thus the namemarmorata , with the foliage maturate upright to spread and curve up at the ends .
This gasteria is sometimes classified asG. nigricansvar.marmorataf.variegata .
Unfortunately for those of us hoping to create parliamentary law from chaos , G. nigricansis now considered a equivalent word ofG. disticha , encountered earlier in the clause .
So it seems that the nameG. marmoratamay be hold to at least two different flora .
If you have one of these variegated ox tongues , to have a better mind of its species , you ’ll take to wait until the specimen is mature .
Observe whether its growth habit is in in two opposite rows – which would suggest a variegated form ofG. disticha – or as a stem canker , which might indicate that it is a form ofG. nitida .
21. Mini Rainbow
‘ Mini Rainbow ’ is a compendious , variegatedG. brachyphyllavar.bayericultivar with short , juicy folio in luminance to medium light-green with tenuous stripe of sinister green and orangish - garden pink variegation .
The foliage is smooth , speckled with clean DoT , and has pinkish leaf margins .
The diminutive leaves are held in rooter shape , on clumping plant .
The peak of ‘ Mini Rainbow ’ are pinkish and flower in the natural spring .
To encourage the pink variegation , provide a few time of day of unmediated sunlight in the sunrise , or use agrow brightness .
22. Pillansii
normally known as Namaqua ox clapper , G. pillansiihas strap - shaped leaves that are wide , flat , and green , streak with bands of livid spots .
The foliage produce in a mostly upright , fan - same agreement , and the plant produce dense clusters with its branch .
These succulent are varying in size , ranging from just two to eight inch tall , and two to 15 inches wide .
With a species name that honors South African botanist Neville Stuart Pillans , G. pillansiihas tubular mould cerise pink flowers with yellowish immature openings that are borne from summertime through autumn .
Gasteria Pillansii
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23. Shozoden
Our net selection , ‘ Shozoden , ’ deliver dark dark-green leafage dotted with white , brightened by a lovely yellow diversification , and arranged in compendious fan physique .
Also known asG. minima‘Variegata Yellow , ’ these dumbly clumping plants are two to three inches marvellous and have a spreading of six to eight inch .
There ’s a great deal of confusion as to which specie this cultivar is bred from . Some botanists number it as a cultivar of eitherG. gracilisorG. minima , both metal money with their own identity crises !
Whatever this gasteria ’s on-key taxonomical identity , this variegate succulent is potential a nursery produced cultivar .
The flowers of ‘ Shozoden ’ are reddish pink with green mouths , and flower from the middle of wintertime through give .
‘ Shozoden ’
you may purchase ‘ Shozoden ’ plant in two - inch mickle from Yunakesavia Amazon .
And So Many More
This is just the tip of the gasteria iceberg !
There aremanymore fascinating coinage , gorgeous varieties , and perplexing cultivars out there , but this selection should give you an idea of the variety regain in theGasteriagenus .
require tokeep digging into the wonderful world of succulents ? We have more article for you correctly here :
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Kristina Hicks - Hamblin
