Haworthia

Haworthia glauca. Photo: User:Haplochromis

Haworthia is a genus of flowering plants within the family Asphodelaceae. They are small (typically 20 cm high) solitary or clump-forming and endemic to South Africa. Bayer (1976) recognized 68 species, with 41 subspecies, varieties and forms. Some species have firm, tough leaves, usually dark green in color, whereas other are soft and semi-translucent.

Their flowers are small, white and very similar between species. But their leaves show wide variations even within one species. Some species such as Haworthia attenuata and Haworthia cymbiformis, are fairly common housplants.

Closely related plants in the Asphodelaceae, include the genera Aloe, Gasteria and Kniphofia. Some intergeneric hybrids between Aloe or Gasteria and Haworthia species are known.

The genus Haworthia is named after the botanist Adrian Hardy Haworth.

Haworthia species reproduce both through seed and through budding, or pups. Certain varieties may be more successful or rapid in pup production, and these pups are easily removed to yield new plants once a substantial root system has developed on the offshoot. Less reliably, the plants may also be propagated through leaf cuttings, and in some instances, through tissue culture.