Gasteria is a genus of succulent plants, native to South Africa and the far south-west corner of Namibia.

[1] The genus is named for its stomach-shaped flowers ("gaster" is greek for "stomach") that result from the swollen base on the corolla.

However, the distribution of several species extends widely across the low-altitude coastal regions of the country, in an arched horseshoe shape across South Africa.

At the one end of the genus's distribution, a species, Gasteria pillansii, extends into the far south-west corner of Namibia.

Usually, young plants have flat, strap-shaped, highly tubercled leaves, in a distichous formation.

Using morphology (especially flower structure), a traditional and widely accepted taxonomy was described in 1994 (van Jaarsveld et al.), dividing the genus into 2 sections, 4 series, and 16 species.

A phylogenetic study in 2005[13] suggest that the genus may be sub-divided into 5 groups with respect to an increasing pattern in DNA content and geographical distribution: Species with distichous (two-ranked), strap-shaped leaves which are usually without keels.

[15][16] The cultivar 'Little Warty' [17] is a recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.