Astrolobas are close relatives of the haworthias; in fact Astroloba aspera is or was also called Haworthia aspera at some stage.

There is a large cemetery of plant name synonyms. The extinction of names is unimportant. People rearrange names all the time as they do words. If it all becomes more appropriate and clearer in the advancement of knowledge, it is to be accepted. History retains them (partly) in paper and hyperspace storage for those that are interested.

Losing live species is an entirely different matter. Sacrificing biodiversity is a serious loss of which thinking humanity does not want to be guilty; a debt to the future generations of everything that lives, impacting jointly and severally.

Aspera suggests rough leaf surfaces. There isn't sufficient information to identify the plant in picture properly.

Astroloba species generally grow in southern African, semi-arid, especially karoid scrubland. The stems have dense columns of triangular leaves that end in spiny tips. The plants bear small, regular (actinomorphic) white flowers, different in shape to the typical haworthia form that is zygomorphic or bilaterally symmetrical.