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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Aloeaceae (now Asphodeloideae) |
| Origin: South Africa (Africa) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Pink |
| Bloomtime: Summer/Fall |
| Height: 1 foot |
| Width: 2-3 feet |
| Exposure: Cool Sun/Light Shade |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F |
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Gasteria croucheri 'Ray Alcock' - A medium size clustering Gasteria croucheri that grows to form a mound about a foot tall rosettes of foot long narrow bluish green leaves that have smooth margins and arch over strongly to hug the ground or become pendulous when grown in a pot or an overhang. In mid to late summer appear the flowers on a several foot long branching inflorescence that emerges upward then curves over extending the 1 ½ inch long dangling pink flower in a long sideways panicle. The flowers are tubular and a soft pink color near the base and lightning toward grayish pink at the slightly flaring petal tips. The flowers are larger but less swollen at the base compared to typical Gasteria croucheri and the leaves narrower and longer. It grows in cool coastal full sun where foliage turns reddish, but best in part sun to light shade in a well-drained soil and irrigated only occasionally late spring to fall. Hardy to at least 25° F. Like other Gasteria croucheri varieties this plant has proven to be a durable and easy to grow Gasteria with a showy bloom. Like the plant we grow as Gasteria croucheri ssp. pendulifolia, this plant makes an interesting specimen in a container where its pendulous leaves can trail down and also where it would do the same along a wall ledge. We received our original plants with the Gasteria collection of Stockton succulent collector Alice Waidhofer in 2005 labeled as Gasteria croucheri 'Ray Alcock' with the tag indicating that Alice had received it in 2000 from Frank "Breck" Breckenridge who received it from Ray Allcock, who held the Succulent Plant Institute's Bate's collection of Gasteria in Liverpool in the UK. The Bates collection was those plants that John Thomas Bates (1894-1966) had collected. Bates (the namesake of Gasteria batesiana) was a trolley bus conductor in London and a well-known and experienced collector of South African succulents. The name for the genus comes from the Greek word 'gaster' meaning "stomach", in reference to the swollen shape of the base of the flower and the specific epithet honors J. Crocher, a succulent plant specialist who was the first head gardener at Kew and the subspecific epithet is a reference to the leaves that hang pendulously down cliff faces.
The information about Gasteria croucheri 'Ray Allcock' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
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