There are also some distinct visual clues. Broadly speaking, Aloes grow in rosette forms as do Haworthias (which can also mound or clump). Gasterias often grow as pairs of leaves (is that distichous?), any ways rather than rosettes. Gasterias rarely have stems, or small trunks, Haworthias either. Some Aloes have stems, trunks. Browse a bunch of pix like as Desert tropicals.com (as suggested above). It will give you a pretty good idea of the differences btwn these. 10 yrs. ago+, all I knew was I loved rosette forms. Over time I've learned about all 3 & still grow all three. Learning it gets easier over time, you'll see.

Desert-Tropicals.com is very useful for a broad range of succulent plants, but lack of pictures for rarer plants can be a problem. San Marcos Growers has information on succulents in the retail market. There are lots of pictures, and good background on the source of each particular plant. It's a wholesale nursery only. There are many good sites dedicated to only one genus. Here are a few examples: The Institute for Aloe Studies is a nursery that sells only Aloe species, no hybrids here. Many species listed have no photos. Succulent Euphorbias is very reliable site. There are several pictures for each species. Good keys for identifying plants. Spiniflores presents plants of the Atacama desert region (Copiapoa, Echinopsis, Eriosyce, etc.). There are many pictures in habitat, and nomenclature is taken very seriously. Mammillarias.net is a great resource for Mammillaria growers. It can be a little overwhelming because of the depth of information presented. Haworthia.info has photographs of more Haworthia than you ever knew existed. Bev Spiller's Echeverias in Oz is a good online source of hybrid Echeveria photos. Echeverias.com also has a lot of photos of hybrids. I'm sure I'll think of more, but that should cover a lot of ground. ;) Brad

here I go stirring this old pot again. i just got the Splendid Sansevieria book by Chahanian for Christmas, and i must say, i am also very disappointed. i read this thread months ago but couldn't relate because i didn't have the book. well, now i can totally relate and agree, it is a terrible book. no offense to the author, who has done so much invaluable work on my favorite genus, but i think the book is almost worthless. and these are the reasons why i think so: 1. it feels like the book was written because people wanted him to write the book, not because he wanted to write the book. 2. COUNTLESS mistakes (spelling, grammar, syntax, you name it) in both introductions and individual descriptions 3. both introductions were written terribly. this book should encourage interest into Sansevierias. but if a true beginner (such as myself, and not Norma, who is obviously not a beginner ;)) reads those introductions, he/she would be discouraged from growing Sans. 4. for the most part, the photos are worthless. the pictures of species in situ don't show ANY details of the plant. what's the point of showing a picture of a plant if it doesn't SHOW the plant? how does it help us ID plants? while specific characteristics (like overall size, crossbanding, number of grooves, size/quantity of flowers) are integral in nailing down the exact species of a plant. if you don't have any idea what species you have, you need descriptive photos to narrow it down and then you can use specific characteristics to definitively ID the plant. and the photos in this book are not very descriptive. 5. an entire book can be written about S. trifasciata and all its cultivars, varieties, sports, unique variegations, etc. this book as exactly one entry for S. trifasciata. i guess it can be argued that that was a strategic decision on the part of the author to not go into depth about such a varied species. but for those of us that bought the book to learn about and ID Sansevierias, information on S. trifasciata is absolutely integral. 6. the price of this book is nearly twice that of Sajeva's Illustrated Dictionay, which has HUNDREDS of high quality photographs (accurate or not). this book is literally one quarter of the size with low quality paper and printing. why does it cost so much more? ok...i am now slowly descending my soap box. again, this post was not intended to insult anyone in any way, just an expression of complete dissatisfaction and disappointment. i collect almost every major genus of succulents, but Sans are my favorite. there are some spectacular haworthia/copiapoa/crassula/etc books out there. why did the Sansevieria one turn out so pathetic? Bri.

Thanks for the IDs Bikerdoc. After I am able to have some success growing these lovelies that I got this month itself, I will gather the courage to join the STC and Sheilam. Also, I am based in India and I wonder if these folks would ship them here. I think I have enough on my plate to take care of right now...if I can manage to keep these happy.Thanks for your offer !! Sinha