''Gasteria disticha'' is

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

native to the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Description

This species of ''

Gasteria ''Gasteria'' is a genus of succulent plants, native to South Africa and the far south-west corner of Namibia. Naming The genus is named for its stomach-shaped flowers (''"gaster"'' is Greek for "stomach") that result from the swollen base on the ...

'' has its strap-shaped leaves in two opposite rows (

distichous In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic arrangements of leaves on a stem are opposite and alternat ...

), from whence its Latin species name comes. In its vegetative appearance, it looks very similar to the closely related species ''

Gasteria pillansii ''Gasteria pillansii'', the Namaqua gasteria, is succulent plant native to the arid winter-rainfall regions in the far west of South Africa and Namibia. Description This species of ''Gasteria'' has its strap-shaped leaves in two opposite rows ...

'' to the north, and '' Gasteria brachyphylla'' to the south-east, both of which are also distichous. However, the flowers are different, with ''G. disticha'' having tiny flowers of just 12–20 mm which have flower bases that are inflated or swollen for roughly two-thirds of the flower length. ''G. disticha'' often has leaves that undulate slightly, with wavy margins and a rough, mat surface.Comparison of disticha-pillansii
/ref> It is proliferous, with pink flowers and appears between September and December.

Distribution

It occurs in the

Robertson Karoo Robertson Karoo is a semi-arid vegetation type, restricted to sections of the Breede River Valley, Western Cape Province, South Africa. It is a subtype of Karoo, Succulent Karoo (geographically an extension of the "Little Karoo") and is characteri ...

vegetation of the

Breede River Valley Breede River Valley is a region of Western Cape Province, South Africa known for being the largest fruit and wine producing valley in the Western Cape, as well as South Africa's leading race-horse breeding area. It is part of the Boland borderin ...

in the

. It also extends marginally into the verges of the Great Karoo. In its natural habitat, it is typically found under rocks or bushes that provide it with some shelter from the sun.

Varieties

* ''G. disticha var. disticha'' - the type variety, and also the most widely distributed * ''G. disticha var. langebergensis'' - dwarf variety from Langvlei, between Worcester and Robertson, with thinner leaves with toothed margins. * ''G. disticha var. robusta'' - outlying summer rainfall variety from

Beaufort West Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhobhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the ...

, with short, fat, robust leaves, and summer flowers.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q154209 Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces disticha