Haworthia cooperi
| Haworthia cooperi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The type variety, Haworthia cooperi var. cooperi. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asphodelaceae |
| Subfamily: | Asphodeloideae |
| Genus: | Haworthia |
| Species: | H. cooperi |
| Binomial name | |
| Haworthia cooperi (Baker.) | |
Haworthia cooperi is a diverse and varied species of the genus Haworthia in the family Asphodelaceae, endemic to the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa.
Description
Plants grow in clumps of small rosettes of tiny, fleshy, light green leaves. As one of the soft green group of Haworthias it is frequently confused with its relatives (e.g. Haworthia cymbiformis, Haworthia mucronata and Haworthia marumiana).
A distinctive feature is the slight bristley "awn" on the margins of the leaves of most varieties. In some, the leaves terminate in a long bristle or thread. Its leaves are not recurved like the "retuse" Haworthias (e.g. Haworthia mirabilis or Haworthia retusa).
Another feature is that the leaves have transparent streaks around their tips. With some varieties, the entire leaf tip is transparent. In the wild, the sun is very bright, and the plant grows mostly buried by sand with only these transparent tips above the ground.
Distribution
The natural range of this species is in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Here is occurs roughly between Port Elizabeth and East London in the east. This range closely matches that of its relative, Haworthia cymbiformis, and the two species interact, with H.cymboformis growing on the cliffs, and H.cooperi growing on the lowland plains. At certain points, the two species merge.[1]
This is a summer rainfall region.
This is also a highly variable species - with several different varieties.[2][3][4]
Varieties
This diverse species has a large number of varieties:
- var. cooperi, the type variety
- var. pilifera, the most common & widespread variety, with short, stumpy, blue-green leaves, with less pronounced bristles.
- var. dielsiana / joeyae, common in cultivation, with short blue-green stumpy leaves, with no bristles or leaf-awns and completely rounded leaf-ends.
- var. davidii, with long, totally translucent leaves, with occasional red veins
- var. leightonii, highly proliferous eastern-most variety (reddish in sun)
- var. doldii, with thin, slender, bristled leaves
- var. puberula, with thin, slender, furry leaves (yellow-green)
- var. venusta, with fat, compact, furry leaves (blue-green)
The type variety, cooperi var. cooperi
The short, stumpy, blue-green var. pilifera
The even more rounded var. dielsiana / joeyae
var. tenera
The furry translucent variety, venusta
var. leightonii
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