Gasteria croucheri

A clumping succulent.

Leaves 20–30 cm long and 3–10 cm wide, elongated and triangular in cross-section, dark green with light green transverse bands, fan-shaped when young, then spiraling. Tubular red flowers with a subspherical base grow in long, branched inflorescences.

A native species of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (from Mapumulo to Port St. Johns), South Africa. In the wild, it grows only in a few isolated spots, generally in partial shade in dry areas, on quartzitic sandstone or shale rock formations, sometimes hanging from rocky ridges and cliff faces, often along the shoreline between 200 and 600 m above sea level. It also grows on rocky outcrops among leaf litter in river valleys. The climate is mild, frost-free, and hot and humid during the summers.

It prefers very well-drained soil and a position in full sun or partial shade. Water every 7-20 days during the growing season (approximately March to October), but keep the soil dry in winter.

Not hardy.

Young, bare-root plant.