Gasteria nitida aka Bathurst Gasteria

Gasteria nitida is a succulent, a plant that stores water. It is perennial, which means it lives for more than two years. It belongs to the plant family Asphodelaceae. Kew places its native range in South Africa. It gives that range as the southern Cape Province. The climate there is subtropical. The RHS states that this plant is not native to Britain. The same holds true for Ireland.

The RHS accepts Gasteria nitida as the correct name. LLIFLE gives ox’s tongue as an English common name. It also lists names used for this plant in the past. These include Aloe nitida and Haworthia nitida. The records thus give both its accepted name and older names. The common name is separate from those scientific names.

The supplied records say little about the form of this species. They do not give a firm height for a full-grown plant. Nor do they state how wide it grows. Its rate of growth also remains unclear from these records. Most details on leaves refer to named varieties, not the whole species. The same is true of most flower and fruit details. Those accounts concern plants below the species level. They do not give a sound basis for describing the whole species. That limits what these records can say about its form.

The evidence does not show how much light this species needs. Nor does it establish its soil or water needs in cultivation. These gaps leave its care needs unclear at the species level. The records do not settle how much frost it can bear. They also leave the time of bloom unclear. No firm bloom period or frost limit follows from this evidence.

The supplied evidence gives no suitable species-level account of pests. It gives no such account of diseases either. It also does not address uses of this species as food. Nor does it establish whether the plant is toxic. These are gaps in the evidence, not findings of safety. A lack of data on toxicity does not mean it is safe. The records therefore give no basis for a claim of safety.