The magnificent Haworthia

Earlier in the week, we launched the next chapter of philstar.com, not just the online presence of The Philippine Star and its sister publications (namely, Pilipino Star Ngayon, The Freeman, Banat and People Asia Magazine) but the leading portal for the Filipino Global Community. The launch party of our new look was a great success, and I was quite happy to see and welcome back Atty. Johann Espiritu and his lovely wife Marga. As most of you may recall, Johann was responsible for taking the great photos of my plants during the early years of Succulentophile. His photos were so good that the Philippine Postal Corporation used many of them in its special issue of Cactus and Succulent stamps commemorating the 25th anniversary of our national society. It was just about a year ago when my family and I visited Johann and Marga at their flat in Virginia, right at the border of Washington, DC where Johann obtained his Masters of Law at that venerable institution, Georgetown University. Johann went on to pass the bar exams over there and practiced for a while before deciding to return. He has graciously accepted my invitation to start taking photos of our beloved succulents from time to time to be featured once again in this column. I know we will all look forward to that. Thanks a lot Yo and welcome back!

As I’ve mentioned several times in the past, Haworthias are my favorite succulent group of all time. I’ve been collecting them ever since I started this crazy fascination as a youngster. Back then, it was my brother Miguel who was collecting them, but when he decided to focus on other things in life, I quickly took over his collection. I’m sure quite a number of you out there may not know it, but you already have a Haworthia growing in your collection or even inside your home. Some of the most hardy, rewarding, and easy-to-grow succulents like the Fairy Washboard or the Zebra Plant are Haworthias. I promised to write more about this plant group over a year ago. Sorry to all for this very tardy follow-up, but I promise to write more about these plants in future columns. Haworthias have become one of the most popular succulent groups worldwide, and interest in these plants has been growing on a daily basis.

Haworthias are generally small growing members of the Lily family and are found exclusively in South Africa. Their greatest concentration lies along the Cape, from the eastern to western coast. What appeals to the collector is the wide variety of form, shape, color, texture, and general ease of culture of these wonderful plants. A fairly sizeable collection can be housed quite comfortably on a bright balcony or even a window sill. While quite a number of these plants can take lower light conditions and increased shade, I find that these look their best in bright locations, even with a lot of direct sunlight for part of the day, so long as their roots are well-nourished and amply watered.

For this issue, I’ve decided to focus on one of the most sought-after species in the Genus, Haworthia magnifica, the "magnificent" retuse-leaved Haworthia. And it is a magnificent plant indeed, as can be seen from the accompanying photos. H. magnifica is a highly variable species from the western Cape in South Africa. Numerous varietal names have been erected to distinguish between the different populations and to highlight the distinct and beautiful variants in the wild. As some of you who have been seriously collecting Haworthias know, there is enormous variability within the Genus, within species, within varieties and within forms. There are many cases when dealing with this group of plants where individuals from the same population in the wild look very different. Some botanists argue that several species are actually contained underneath the name H. magnifica, but that is a whole different topic for discussion and may bore most of you anyway. For now, I will simply highlight the recognized varieties of this species for your appreciation.

As can be gleaned from the accompanying photos, there are several beautiful variants of H. magnifica. The type plant, variety magnifica, is quite variable in its own right, with forms ranging from green to almost black, from smooth-leaved to very hairy or tubercled-leaved forms, from small to larger growing specimens, and from solitary growers to highly clustering forms. The other distinct members of the magnifica group are: variety atrofusca (atrofusca meaning "very dark brown"), a gem in the entire Genus and much-coveted by collectors, and its close ally, the newly described variety enigma from northwest of Riversdale at the Cape, which is a more robust plant with even more rounded leaf-tips than atrofusca. The variety acuminata (acuminata meaning "sharp-pointed") from Gouritzmond has long, tapering green leaves with white streaks. Some botanists consider it a separate species altogether. This variant is also quite proliferous, producing numerous offsets which can be easily detached and rooted to start a new plant. The variety dekenahii (named after Japie Dekenah, a born naturalist in South Africa) is also considered a separate species by some. This plant, which is from northwest of Albertinia and the Draaihoek, Riversdale area, is a fairly scabrid, darkish-green plant with leaf-tips which are also rounded.

But by far the most magnificent of all the magnificas has to be the variety splendens (from the word "splendid"). With its pinkish-red to brown leaves and shiny black raised tubercles on the fat, highly turgid and retuse leaves, this plant looks like a spectacularly glazed piece of pottery. It is truly a natural wonder to behold and is one of the most prized plants in all of the succulent world. Many specialists consider this plant to be the most beautiful Haworthia of all, period! I must say, I find it hard to contest this view. Splendens has a "wicked sister" growing just east of it in the Albertinia area, and this has now been described as the variety esterhuizenii, after the famed South African botanist Essie Esterhuizen. It, too, is a spectacular plant, with longer, narrower leaves and its leaf-backs densely white-spotted, unlike in the variety splendens. There has been yet another new discovery in an area close to the locality where variety splendens grows. This is a green, smaller growing form that is somewhat similar to variety esterhuizenii but having its own distinct characteristics. I understand this taxon has been named "vincentii", after its discoverer Vincent de Vries, a renowned plant explorer and excellent grower of South African flora including Haworthias. I don’t have this plant yet, but I hope to add this to my collection soon. There are quite a number of botanists and students of Haworthia who now feel that variety splendens and its "wicked sisters" esterhuizenii and vincentii should be elevated to species status, separate from the magnifica group. This might be the right course of action to take eventually. Suffice it to say that the splendens group is truly magnificent.

The plants themselves are quite easy to grow, so long as you provide them with a very porous growing medium, good strong sunlight to bring out the intricate colors and textures of the plants, and enough watering and feeding to keep the roots healthy. While different growers have different growing techniques given their different micro-environments, and what may work for one grower may prove a complete disaster for another (a point which I constantly stress in my articles), I’ve had some success growing these plants in a mixture of 70 percent pumice (a volcanic derivative which is becoming increasingly available in our local flower markets) and 30 percent coconut coir. During the hot summer months, I try to water the plants once a week with just a light watering if the plants are grown in plastic, but a heavier dose is given if the plant is growing in clay pots. I also fertilize with a highly diluted balanced fertilizer once or twice a month, depending on my mood. And I try to give my magnificas as much direct sunlight as possible, although in my home’s micro-environment, I find that I can’t give them enough of this due to the house’s orientation. Oh well, that will soon change once my greenhouse in Tagaytay is all done, but that’s another topic for another day.