For Id from Panipat- March 12

Nidhan Singh

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:50:50 AM4/24/12

to indiantreepix

Dear All,

This potted succulent was shot from Panipat, in March 2012. I have no ideas of Id, hope to find through the group..

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Regards,

Dr. Nidhan Singh
Department of Botany
I.B. (PG) College
Panipat-132103 Haryana
Ph.: 09416371227

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Dr Jacob Thomas

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Apr 24, 2012, 12:19:48 PM4/24/12

to Nidhan Singh, indiantreepix

It is Haworthia limifolia of Liliaceae. The common name is Zebra haworthia.

Another classification is follows

Kingdom: Plantae

clade: Angiosperms

clade: Monocots

Order: Asparagales

Family: Xanthorrhoeaceae

Subfamily: Asphodeloideae

Genus: Haworthia

Species: H. limifolia

Haworthia is a genus of flowering plants within the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae. They are small (typically 20 cm (8 in) high) solitary or clump-forming and endemic to South Africa. 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.

The classification of the flowering plant subfamily Asphodeloideae is weak and concepts of the genera are not well substantiated. Haworthia is similarly a weakly contrived genus consisting of three distinct groups: sub-genera Haworthia, Hexangularis, and Robustipedunculares. Related genera are Aloe, Gasteria and Astroloba and intergeneric hybrids are known.

The genus Haworthia is named after the botanist Adrian Hardy Haworth. Bayer recognizes approximately 61 species whereas other taxonomists are very much less conservative (1999, Haworthia Revisited, Umdaus Press). The species are endemic to South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia and Maputoland. The plants are small, forming rosettes of leaves from 3 cm (1.2 in) to exceptionally 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. These rosettes are usually stemless but in some species stems reach up to 50 cm (20 in).

Their flowers are small, white and very similar between species. There are differences in the flowers of the three sub-genera that botanists have curiously considered inconsequential although the differences between species in the same subgenus definitely are. The roots, leaves and rosettes do demonstrate some generic differences while wide variations occur even within one species. Because of their horticultural interest, the taxonomy has been dominated by amateur collectors and the literature is rife with misunderstanding of what the taxa actually are or should be.

There is widespread special collector interest but some species such as Haworthia attenuata and Haworthia cymbiformis, are fairly common house and garden plants. Haworthia species reproduce both through seed and through budding, or offsets. Certain species or clones may be more successful or rapid in offset 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.

Nidhan Singh

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Apr 24, 2012, 8:47:34 PM4/24/12

to Dr Jacob Thomas, indiantreepix

Many Many Thanks Dr. Jacob for prompt and detailed reply...this was long pending with me.

ushadi Micromini

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Apr 24, 2012, 9:22:21 PM4/24/12

to Dr Jacob Thomas, sing...@gmail.com, J.M. Garg, Nidhan Singh, indiantreepix

Dear Jacob: Thank you for the ID....

and the write up you have included is verbatim from WIKI, this particular essay is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haworthia

It would have sufficed to have given this link... or if one must include the entire essay VERBATIM... it behooves the writer to give the URL link...

Even if WIKI is an open source resource, a citation must be given, otherwise it implies YOU wrote the whole essay , and since it not the case.... there are conclusions to be drawn, you add them up ... I leave it to you to do so...

I hope you will take an active part in this group, and always give reference/citations....like one does when writing any scientific paper...

thanks
Usha di
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Usha di
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Gurcharan Singh

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:05:47 PM4/24/12

to ushadi Micromini, Dr Jacob Thomas, J.M. Garg, Nidhan Singh, indiantreepix

Thanks Dr. Jacob

This resolved my long pending ID also

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Dr. Gurcharan Singh

Retired Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089

http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/

ushadi Micromini

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Apr 24, 2012, 10:30:57 PM4/24/12

to Nidhan Singh, Gurcharan Singh, surajit koley, indiantreepix

Nidhan: I found this at our flower show in January this year... being grown in Assam nurseries for the north american nursery trade and are just becoming popular here for the last few years... this year it seems they were all flowering ... most Howarthias have flowers which look similar to me at least a and a few others like a user named Palmbob at Daves garden ... see his write up at http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/471/

My howarthia is NOT H. limifolia... look closely the white lines are flat and vertical , not raised and lateral that limifolia demands... YET FLOWERS are very similar to yours... that's the point Geoff Stein/palmbob is making.. in the link above...

As we keep getting more and more Howarthias .. it will be very interesting... So far I have experience with 5 varieties... none have flowered except the one I am showing today...

Usha di
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Usha di
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DSC00732 a.jpg

Nidhan Singh

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Apr 25, 2012, 12:00:17 AM4/25/12

to ushadi Micromini, Gurcharan Singh, surajit koley, indiantreepix

Thanks Ushadi Ji for additional information...

surajit koley

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Apr 25, 2012, 1:07:37 PM4/25/12

to ushadi Micromini, indiantreepix

Didi,

Though i have noticed these plants in urban balconies, also displayed by local sapling vendors, i haven't photographed any. It is a new genera to me.

Regards,

surajit

ushadi Micromini

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Apr 25, 2012, 9:32:01 PM4/25/12

to surajit koley, Satish Phadke, Vijayasankar Raman, indiantreepix

Yes Surajit its a very interesting group of plants
mainly from southern african continent....
now the nursery trade had many more of natural and hybrids in India, USA and SE ASIA..
seems not so well studied though some "books" are available...
hybridizes crazily among its own.. grows very slowly but people claim they get seeds...
I have yet to get them... may be we dont have the right kind of natural pollinators in India for these, or our pollinators have not discovered them, or dont like them or there is not a critical mass of these flowers in any one locale for the insects to know they are there....

classification is often a problem...
but regardless I enjoy their beauty and slow growing houseplant habit...

Usha di
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Usha di
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surajit koley

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Apr 25, 2012, 9:44:15 PM4/25/12

to ushadi Micromini, Satish Phadke, Vijayasankar Raman, indiantreepix

Didi,

Though i saw one or two species of these plants, as i said earlier, i skipped taking photographs, because i knew this is not my cup of tea. In fact entire flora world seemed (and still now, if you are not there) very tough to cope with.

I remember someone showed me part of a leaf, i think belong to this group, that contained vaseline like substance inside it. This 'vaseline' smelled like a well known winter-care cream, 'borocalendula'!

Regards,

surajit

ushadi Micromini

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Apr 25, 2012, 10:27:45 PM4/25/12

to surajit koley, Satish Phadke, Vijayasankar Raman, indiantreepix

Surajit, I have never torn a leaf from my plants that I care for... when they die (and they do often in very humid indoor environ during monsoon months) I have not torn and smelled the pulp ... next time I am at a nursery that may have plants that they are trying to root leaves I will ask if we can do the olfactory test!!!

Usha di

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Usha di
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surajit koley

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Apr 26, 2012, 12:30:10 PM4/26/12

to ushadi Micromini, Satish Phadke, Vijayasankar Raman, indiantreepix

Didi,

That 'borocalendula' leaf looked like some Aloe sp. But i maybe wrong, it might be some other monocot leaf. However, my friend called it 'Boroline plant' and he insisted that he used it as boroline alternative in winter!