Haworthia mucronata

Haworthia mucronata
Haworthia mucronata in habitat near the type locality
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asphodelaceae
Subfamily:	Asphodeloideae
Genus:	Haworthia
Species:	H. mucronata
Binomial name
Haworthia mucronata Haw.

Haworthia mucronata is a species of the genus Haworthia in the family Asphodelaceae, endemic to the Little Karoo region, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Etymology

A form of H. mucronata without leaf-bristles

The genus name Haworthia honors the British botanist Adrian Hardy Haworth (1767–1833), while the species epitheton mucronata ("pointy") derives from Latin and refers to the pointed leaf-shape.

Description

Plants grow as tight proliferous clumps of offsetting rosettes. As one of the soft-leaved, pale-green group of Haworthias it is frequently confused with its relatives (e.g. Haworthia cooperi, Haworthia cymbiformis and Haworthia marumiana). It also hybridises naturally with Haworthia arachnoidea in habitat, and the two seem to form a continuum.

The distinctive feature of this species is the transparency of the keel and margins of the leaves. This distinguishes it from most of its relatives. Some plants have bristles along their leaf margins but this is not a distinguishing feature. The plants are relatively small. The leaves are mildly incurved, ovate-lanceolate, and are packed – dense and numerous – within the rosette.

Distribution

This species is relatively common in habitat, being found from Barrydale to Oudtshoorn. It is endemic to the Little Karoo region, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Varieties

• 
  var. rycroftiana
• 
  var. polyphylla
• 
  var. inconfluens
• 
  var. habdomadis
• 
  var. morrisiae