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

Haworthia archeri, Lospersberge, Josephskraal

Haworthia archeri W.F.Barker ex M.B.Bayer

archeri: for Mr J. Archer

H. archeri is a very small small, compact brownish-green species, with rosette up to 60 mm in diameter. Vegetativly are plants similar to H. marumiana, but it remains mostly solitary and the floral characteristic is also different. These two species comes very close together at Princ Albert area (var. viridis). The leaves of archeri are less flaccid, the patterning appears to be finer and leaves also tend to curve outwards and are little more scabrid.

Distribution map

H. archeri grows in the greater Sutherland, Merweville and Frazerburg areas. It occurs on Dwyka sandstones among karroid vegetation but on the cooler southern slopes. The area west of Whitehill Laingsburg is north of the Witteberg mountain range and technically lies on the border of winter and summer rainfall areas. However, it is most probable that H. archeri prefers a dry summer and what little moisture it can get, in the winter. There is a high degree of variation across its distribution range. Collection from the Floriskraal Dam is glabrous and very like small glabrous form of H. arachnoidea var. nigricans, another population from Gamkapoort area has broader leaves and less spination.

H. archeri is not much known in cultivation. Propagation can be done by seeds or in case of proliferous clones by offsets.