Accepted Scientific Name: Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata (Haw.) M.B.Bayer
New Haworthia Handb. 120 (1976)
Haworthia tessellata (Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli
Origin and Habitat: It is a very widespread species, occurring in the climatically severe central-southern Africa and Namibia. It is the only Haworthia that grows in Namibia. (May be some arachnoidea as well).
Habitat: It grows in shady place under the bush or in rock crevices. It is one of the most adaptable, widespread and also variable Haworthia primarily found in the summer rainfall area. Usually it is very proliferous or stoloniferous, it forms clusters in nature and fill in the space it has. It is associated with other succulents such as Euphorbia aggregataSN|11431]]SN|11431]], Cotyledon toxicaria, Crassula obvallataSN|26890]]SN|26890]], Mesembriantemum saxicolum and Stapelia flavirostrisSN|17386]]SN|17386]].
Synonyms:
See all synonyms of Haworthia venosa
Common Names include:
AFRIKAANS (Afrikaans): Venstertjie
Description: Haworthia veneosa ssp. tessellata is a very variable plant and in the past there were a huge number of names amongst this species (at least 15 varieties), but all this varieties merge gradually one with another through a continuous series of transitional forms and it is almost impossible to tell them apart, so now they are all synonymized with Haworthia veneosa.
Rosette: Stemless, low 5-7(-10) cm in diameter with about 7-15 leaves arranged in spirals.
Leaves: Sessile 3-5 cm long, 2-3 cm wide at the base, fleshy, firm in texture, broadly triangular, strongly recurved, brownish to green, cuspidate at the apex; upper surface flattish, marked with six pale green anastomosing verticallines forming a square patterned design and windowed (sunlight enters the plant body through these translucent windows and is converted into energy by many layers of chlorophyll-rich cells), lower surface is usually rounded slightly scabrid with raised coriaceous tubercles, especially in the upper part where they are arranged in transverse rows, margins with recurved white teeth.
Inflorescence: It is a lax, simple, raceme, few-flowered up to 50 cm tall.
Flowers: Greenish-white with green veins. Pedicels 2-3 mm long; bracts minute, deltoid; perianth 2 cm long; limb half as long as the tube.
Remarks: It was introduced into cultivation by Bowie about 1822.
Chromosome number: There are records of 5 basic numbers: 2n = 14, 28, 42, 56 and 63, distributed among 15 varieties.
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Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Haworthia venosa group
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Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Harrison, Lorraine. “RHS Latin for gardeners: Over 3,000 Plant Names Explained and Explored.” Octopus Publishing Group, 2012
2) Christopher Brickell “RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants.” United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008.
3) Stuart Max Walters, James Cullen “The European Garden Flora: Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae, Angiospermae” Cambridge University Press, 1986
4) Charles L. Scott “The genus Haworthia (Liliaceae): a taxonomic revision” Aloe Books, 1985
5) M. B. Bayer “The new Haworthia handbook” National Botanic Gardens of South Africa, 1982
6) Helen Glen, D. S. Hardy, G. Germishuizen “Flora of Southern Africa” National Botanical Institute, 2000
7) Maurizio Sajeva, Mariangela Costanzo “Succulents 2” Timber Press, 15/mar/2000
8) John Pilbeam “Haworthia and Astroloba: A Collector's Guide” B. T. Batsford Limited, 1983
More...Haworthia tessellata (Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli Haworthia tessellata (Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata) Photo by: Giuseppe Distefano Haworthia tessellata (Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli Haworthia tessellata (Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli Haworthia tessellata (Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli Haworthia tessellata (Haworthia venosa subs. tessellata) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli Cultivation and Propagation: In cultivation it grows quite easily. Provide medium light and avoid direct sun. If you give it right amount of sun light, the nice markings will be more visible and plants more attractive.
Propagation: Stolons/offsetts or leaf cuttings.