Gasteria carinata var. carinata

Gasteria carinata var. carinata is a stemless, low-growing leaf succulent that forms clumps and grows to 18 cm in height. The leaves of young plants are distichous, but leaves often twist sideways early to form rosettes.

The leaves are flat or triangular from a skew keel or rounded lower surface, thickly succulent with smooth margins and rounded tips. White dots are scattered randomly or in transversal bands across the green surfaces. Leaf surfaces of this variety tend to be rough from small tubercles.

Flowers grow in a single raceme, the lower, bulging part of the perianth pink, the upper, thin tube white and green. Flowering happens in late winter through spring.

The distribution of this variety is in the southwestern parts of the Western Cape, mainly coastal. The plant grows in dry fynbos to elevations around 300 m. The plant is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (www.plantzafrica.com; www.redlist.sanbi.org).