G. armstrongii is one of the slow growing and rarer Gasterias with dark green leaves.
It contains some of the most handsome individual clones of any species.

Description: G. armstrogii is a distinctive neotenic miniature with short, rounded and thick distichous rosettes of two to four leaves up to 10  in diameter. These lie flat to the ground and have a rough, bumpy, tongue-like appearance, sometimes with prominent paler tubercles that may develop with age. The roots are thick with little branching, and endowed with the ability to contract, physically pulling the plant down into the ground during dry weather. Old specimens cluster naturally with new plants around the original. The inflorescences are smaller and unbranched but bear 20 mm long flowers

Cultivation: Needs regular water in summer. Propagation: offsets (if available) or by leaf cuttings or seeds. Frost hardy to -1°C.  Prefer Light shade exposures

 Synonyms: Gasteria nitida var. armstrongii (Schönland) Van Jaarsveld

Origin and ecology: Restricted to a comparatively limited coastal region mainly in and around Humansdorp, Eastern Cape Province. this plant can be exceedingly difficult to locate in habit in fact the leaves are more or less horizontal and when the whole plant is at or below grade, the surrounding soil begins to cover up the plant!

Taxonomy: Gasteria armstrongii has for a long time been just considered a "kind" of nitida (G. nitida var. armstrongii) but it is very different indeed from the typical G. nitida. Nowadays the taxonomist Ernst van Jaarsveld has decided, by virtue of DNA studies, that armstrongii is a species in its own right. Seedlings of G. nitida appear much the same until they produce erect pointed leaves