Another delightful miniature, Gasteria ellaphieae is a rare Gasteria only found in the area of the Kouga Dam in South Africas' Eastern Cape Province. Discovered in 1989 by Ernst van Jaarsveld, it was named for the late Mrs. Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst who illustrated his wonderful book, "The Gasterias of South Africa". It produces rarely offsetting, spiralling rosettes of roughly tuberculed leaves no more than a few inches across. Most pictures I've seen are of an almost silvery green plant, but mine seems to have taken on a lovely purplish brown color. For such a tiny plant, the flower stalk is simply amazing, towering a foot or more above the plant.
      I got this one in spring 2006 from Arid Lands, and I'm very pleased with it's progress. It seems to be growing fast and holding the purple color well. Hopefully it will reach flowering size soon. The picture below is to highlight the color and texture of a leaf.