All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Succulents. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.

Gasteria gracilis variegata "YELLOW"
This is not a fully recognized species, though this Gasteria is frequently sold under this name.
This form of it is very small and best in pots. It is a prolific but slow clustering species.
 Very popular for small dish gardens.

 

Description: Gasteria gracilis (Probably G. bicolor now) is not currently considered a valid species. One problem with Gasteria is that there are so many hybrids between species, hybrids with Aloes and Haworthias, seedling variability, and differences between juvenile and adult plants, that it becomes almost impossible to distinguish many forms from one another. Particularly the name gracilis is used for wildly different forms and can cause confusion.
Rosettes: 5-7 cm in diameter;  stemless with basal leaves.
Leaves: Fleshy, fat, pillowy, tongue-like.  Smooth, shiny, green speckled, wide with white dots and variably striped with yellow. 3-5 cm long and 1 to 2,5 cm. wide. Distichous. Leaves may turn red if plant is stressed.
Flowers: Small up to 2 cm, pendulous, tubular, bicoloured reddish-pink and green that look like little stomachs. The inflorescence can be branched and tall.
Blooming Time: Flowers can be produced any time of year, peaking in midwinter to spring.
 

Propagation: Gasteria is easily propagated by the removal of offshoots or by leaf cuttings in spring or summer. To propagate by leaf cuttings, remove a leaf and let it lie for about one month, giving the wound time to heal. Then lay the leaf on its side with the basal part buried in the soil. This leaf should root within a month or two, and small plants will form at the leaf base. They can also be grown from seed.

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Origin:  Garden origin (Nursery produced cultivar)

Synonyms:  

• Gasteria f. variegata yellow
• Gasteria minima variegata

Very dwarf clustering stacks of yellow striped fat pillowy leaves pushing out to eventually from fabulous hemispheres of many heads of bowtie plantlets. Attractive and easy.

Cultivation: They are of easy cultivation, which makes them a good houseplant, and can be an excellent subject for the beginning gasteriaphile (it can grow easily on window sills, verandas and in miniature succulent gardens where they are happy to share their habitat with other smaller succulent plants, or in outdoor rockeries). The plant needs light shade to shade, but will take full sun part of the day. (with some sun exposure the leaf develops a nice reddish tint and remains compact) They are tolerant of a wide range of soils and habitats, but prefer a very porous potting mix to increase drainage. During the hot summer months, the soil should be kept moist but not overly wet. The plants are fertilized only once during the growing season with a balanced fertilizer diluted to ½ the recommended strength. During the winter months, water only when the soil becomes completely dry.

Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Gasteria bicolor complex (This Taxon has lots of synonyms (like many other Gasterias), with several controversial varieties and subspecies, and comprises a multitude of different forms, but where each form is linked to others by populations of plants with intermediate characteristics):

• Gasteria bicolor var. bicolor
• Gasteria bicolor var. liliputana
• Gasteria gracilis variegata (bicolor?)

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Succulents. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.