Haworthia emelyae Poelln. is the correct and accepted scientific name for this species of Haworthia. This species was named and described by Karl von Poellnitz in Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis in 1937.
The genus, Haworthia Duval, was named and described by Henri August Duval in Plantae Succulentae in Horto Alenconio in 1809. The genus was named after Adrian Hardy Haworth, an English botanist, entomologist (study of insects), and carcinologist (study of crustaceans).
Plants of the World Online by Kew currently list 57 accepted species in the Haworthia genus (as of 12/26/18 when I updated this page). Version 1.1 of The Plant List (2013) listed 166 accepted species (plus 110 accepted infraspecific names), a total of 872 synonyms, and 52 unresolved names. The Plant List has not been updated or maintained since the 2013 update. The Plant List had been a cooperative effort of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Garden-Kew. Royal Botanic Garden launched Plants of the World Online in 2017 and is still uploading data.
I bought my Haworthia emelyae from Lowe’s in the spring of 2009. If flowered that winter to my amazement then went downhill in the spring. Even though we had our ups and downs, it still survived and I kept this plant until late summer 2014.
It originally was in a nice clump, like the photo from 8-7-09 shows. But it almost completely died and by 2011 there were only two small plants from the clump left. I brought this plant with me when I moved to Missouri and It took off again in 2013 and 2014.
I bought the Haworthia emelyae with me when I moved back to the family farm in mid-Missouri in February 2013. Although there wasn’t much left of the plant, I could tell it was a survivor and didn’t want to be left behind.
I don’t claim to be an expert on growing succulents and I have had my share of failures. But failures lead to determination and success. Haworthia emelyae is hardy in USDA zones 10-11. I know some information says full sun, but hey do best for me in light shade, especially in the hotter months of summer. To much shade will cause them to stretch, though, so you just have to watch and see what they do. Just because they like bright light doesn’t necessarily mean they like full sun in 100 degree temps. Haworthia emelyae is a clumper, or should I say a mounder, growing under 6″ in height. They need a fast draining soil that needs to be completely dry between watering. In the growing seasons it should be watered thoroughly, less in the summer, and hardly in the winter. Haworthia are summer dormant succulents so their active growth periods are in the spring and autumn months.
By the end of the summer of 2014, my Haworthia emelyae companions were looking much better. It was pretty neat how they changed colors with more light.
I gave up most of my plants late in the summer of 2014 so now I am starting over. Maybe someday I will find another Haworthia emelyae and give it another shot. There are many popular species and cultivars of Haworthia to choose from.
Even though we are tempted to buy many very interesting succulents, you have to realize they need bright light. If you can’t provide it, they will stretch. Water is also very important. Do NOT water hardly at all during the winter months, if any, or their roots will rot. The link to Llifle below provides very useful information on growing this plant. I am havng difficulty getting the links to Learn 2 Grow to open, but hopefully that will change.
I hope you enjoyed this page and maybe found it useful. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please click on “like” if you visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 You can check out the links below for further reading. The links take you directly to the genus and species of this plant.