Monday, March 28, 2011

Jatropha cathartica and Haworthia venosa ssp. tesselata var. simplex

I should have noted a few days ago when I posted Jatropha berlandieri (Torrey 1858) that this is an invalid synonym for Jatropha cathartica (Teran & Berlandier 1832). Since J. cathartica has priority, it would be the correct name. Old habits are sometimes hard to change.

With that said, here's a new photo of Haworthia venosa ssp. tesselata var. simplex. Of course, there is no variety simplex. Or, at least, it's not accepted as a variety by most anyone.  It's just a part of the variability of the sub-species tesselata. Be that as it may, it's a nice variation.

2 comments:

  1. How do you tell the difference between Haworthia venosa ssp. tesselata and Hawarthia venosa ssp venosa?

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  2. H. venosa is a very difficult species in that there is a lot of variability. According to Bayer, "in subspecies venosa, the leaf surfaces are obscurely or lightly reticulate on the leaf faces, in subsp. tesselata the reticulation is pronounced, and in subsp. granulata the plants are caulescent and the leaf faces both scabrous and obscurely reticulate." I'm not a taxonomist, so I'm not sure where the plants labeled "simplex" should be placed in all of this. I'll post a habitat picture of venosa subsp. venosa taken by David Martin.

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