All you wanted to know about Haworthias, Gasterias and Astrolobas: Haworthia fusca

Haworthia fusca, W. Paulsfontein

Haworthia fusca I.Breuer

fusca: named for its leaf colour.

H. fusca is smaller plant with few leaves, up to 4-5cm in diameter and remain solitairy. It has darker-bluish green colour, with leaves smooth or occasionally with small tubercles, usually with lines or even white attractive dots. In cultivation it grows much bigger and it is slowly offsetting species. Typical habitat are flat grassy areas or low slopes, where it grows amongst the grass and stones, usually very well hidden. It shares characteristics from both magnifica and pygmaea. It flowers with pygmaea group in late Spring (in Northern hemisphere), few months before magnifica group.

Distribution map

It was discovered by David Cumming while he was searching for new localities of H. magnifica var. splendens, but is has been reported from few other localities North and NW of TL. It grows in the area around Albertinia, where magnifica elements comes from the West (with magnifica var. splendens) and pygmaea group is continuing to the East towards Mossel Bay (with pygmaea var. argenteo-maculosa). From the same area was described H. dekenahii, which has more light green colour and slightly more rounded and larger leaves. Dekanahii flowers few weeks after fusca, but for me they belongs to the same group.

It is usually single plant and in cultivation it needs more sun to keep nice coloration and compact shape. Propagation should be done by seeds.

Known locality: