Lithops
Encyclopedia
Lithops is a genus
of succulent plant
s in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae
. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa
. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek
words λίθος (lithos), meaning "stone," and ὄψ (ops), meaning "face," referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. The formation of the name from the Greek "-ops" means that even a single plant is called a Lithops.
Individual Lithops plants consist of one or more pairs of bulbous, almost fused leaves
opposite to each other and hardly any stem
. The slit between the leaves contains the meristem
and produces flower
s and new leaves. The leaves of Lithops are mostly buried below the surface of the soil
, with a partially or completely translucent top surface or window allowing light to enter the interior of the leaves for photosynthesis
.
During winter a new leaf pair, or occasionally more than one, grows inside the existing fused leaf pair. In spring
the old leaf pair parts to reveal the new leaves and the old leaves will then dry up. Lithops leaves may shrink and disappear below ground level during drought
. Lithops in habitat almost never have more than one leaf pair per head, the environment is just too arid to support this. Yellow or white flowers emerge from the fissure between the leaves after the new leaf pair has fully matured, one per leaf pair. This is usually in autumn, but can be before the summer equinox
in L. pseudotruncatella and after the winter equinox
in L. optica
. The flowers are often sweetly scented.
The most startling adaptation
of Lithops is the colouring of the leaves. The leaves are not green as in almost all higher plants, but various shades of cream, grey, and brown, patterned with darker windowed areas, dots, and red lines. The markings on the top surface disguise the plant in its surroundings.
Lithops are obligate outcrossers
and require pollination
from a separate plant. Like most mesembs, Lithops fruit is a dry capsule
that opens when it becomes wet; some seed
s may be ejected by falling raindrops, and the capsule re-closes when it dries out. Capsules may also sometimes detach and be distributed intact, or may disintegrate after several years.
Lithops occur naturally across wide areas of Namibia
and South Africa
, as well as small bordering areas in Botswana
and possibly Angola
, from sea level to high mountains. Nearly a thousand individual populations are documented, each covering just a small area of dry grassland, veld
, or bare rocky ground. Different Lithops species are preferentially found in particular environments, usually restricted to a particular type of rock. Lithops have not naturalised outside this region.
Rain
fall in Lithops habitats ranges from approximately 700 mm/year to near zero. Rainfall patterns range from exclusively summer rain to exclusively winter rain, with a few species relying almost entirely on dew formation for moisture. Temperatures are usually hot in summer and cool to cold in winter, but one species is found right at the coast with very moderate temperatures year round.
Lithops are popular novelty house plants and many specialist succulent growers maintain collections. Seed
s and plants are widely available in shops and over the Internet
. They are relatively easy to grow if given sufficient sun and a suitable well drained-soil.
Normal treatment in mild temperate climate
s is to keep them completely dry during winter, watering only when the old leaves have dried up and been replaced by a new leaf pair. Watering continues through autumn when the plants flower and then stopped for winter. The best results are obtained with additional heat such as a greenhouse. In hotter climate
s Lithops will have a summer dormancy when they should be kept mostly dry, and they may require some water in winter. In tropical
climates, Lithops can be grown primarily in winter with a long summer dormancy. In all conditions, Lithops will be most active and need most water during autumn and each species will flower at approximately the same time.
Lithops thrive best in a coarse, well-drained substrate. Any soil that retains too much water will cause the plants to burst their skins as they over-expand. Plants grown in strong light will develop hard strongly coloured skins which are resistant to damage and rot, although persistent overwatering will still be fatal. Excessive heat will kill potted plants as they cannot cool themselves by transpiration
and rely on staying buried in cool soil below the surface.
Propagation of Lithops is by seed
or cuttings. Cuttings can only be used to produce new plants after a plant has naturally divided to form multiple heads, so most propagation is by seed. Lithops can readily be pollinated by hand if two separate clone
s of a species flower at the same time, and seed will be ripe
about 9 months later. Seed is easy to germinate, but the seedlings are small and vulnerable for the first year or two, and will not flower until at least two or three years old.
, explorer of South Africa
, botanist and artist, although he called it Mesembryanthemum
turbiniforme. In 1811 he accidentally found a specimen when picking up from the ground a "curiously shaped pebble".. Unfortunately his description isn't detailed enough to be sure which Lithops he had discovered and the name Lithops turbiniformis is no longer used, although for many years it was applied to what is now known as Lithops hookeri.
Several more Lithops were published as Mesembryanthemum
species
until in 1922 N E Brown started to split up the overly large genus on the basis of the capsules
. The genus
Lithops was created and dozens more species were published in the following decades. Brown, Gustav Schwantes, Kurt Dinter
, Gert Nel, and Louisa Bolus continued to document Lithops from across southern Africa, but there was little consensus on the relationships between them, or even which populations should be grouped as species. As recently as the 1950s, the genus was little known in cultivation and not well understood taxonomically.
In the 1950s, Desmond and Naureen Cole began to study Lithops. They eventually visited nearly all habitat populations and collected samples from approximately 400, identifying them with the Cole numbers which have been used ever since and distributing Cole numbered seed around the world. They studied and revised the genus, in 1988 publishing a definitive book (Lithops: Flowering Stones) describing the species
, subspecies
, and varieties
which have been accepted ever since.
New species continue to be discovered steadily in remote regions of Namibia and South Africa, most recently L. coleorum in 1994, L. hermetica
in 2000, and L. amicorum in 2006.
or varieties and some have many regional form
s identified by old names or habitat locations. Identification of species is primarily by flower colour and leaf patterns.
!Specific epithet
!Meaning
|-
|amicorum
|of the friends
|-
|aucampiae
|named after Juanita Aucamp
|-
|bromfieldii
|named after H. Bromfield
|-
|coleorum
|named after Desmond & Naureen Cole
|-
|comptonii
|named after Prof. Harold Compton
|-
|dinteri
|named after Moritz Kurt Dinter
|-
|divergens
|divergent lobes
|-
|dorotheae
|named after Dorothea Huyssteen
|-
|francisci
|named after Frantz de Laet
|-
|fulviceps
(aka lydiae)
|tawny head
|-
|gesineae
|named after Gesine de Boer
|-
|geyeri
|named after Dr. Albertus Geyer
|-
|gracilidelineata
|thin lined
|-
|hallii (aka salicola var. reticulata)
|named after Harry Hall
|-
|helmutii
|named after Helmut Meyer
|-
|hermetica
|named after the location 'hermetically sealed', Sperrgebiet
|-
|herrei
|named after Adolar 'Hans' Herre
|-
|hookeri (aka dabneri, marginata, turbiniformis var. lutea)
|named after Sir Joseph Hooker
|-
|julii (aka fulleri)
|named after Dr. Julius Derenberg
|-
|karasmontana
|named after the Karas Mountains
|-
|lesliei
|named after T. N. Leslie
|-
|localis (aka terricolor, peersii)
|of a place
|-
|marmorata (aka diutina, framesii, umdausensis)
|marbled
|-
|meyeri
|named after Rev. Gottlieb Meyer
|-
|naureeniae
|named after Naureen Cole
|-
|olivacea
|olive-green
|-
|optica
(aka rubra)
|eye-like
|-
|otzeniana
|named after M. Otzen
|-
|pseudotruncatella
|had been confused with Conophytum truncatum (aka Mesembryanthemum truncatellum)
|-
|ruschiorum
|named after Rusch family
|-
|salicola
|salt-dweller
|-
|schwantesii
|named after Gustav Schwantes
|-
|vallis-mariae
|named after the location Mariental
(Latinised)
|-
|verruculosa
|warty
|-
|villetii (aka deboeri)
|named after Dr. C. T. Villet
|-
|viridis
|green
|-
|werneri
|named after Werner Triebner
|}>
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of succulent plant
Succulent plant
Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, stems, and also in roots...
s in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae
Aizoaceae
The Family Aizoaceae or Ficoidaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1900 species. They are commonly known as stone plants or carpet weeds. Species that resemble stones or pebbles are sometimes called mesembs...
. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
words λίθος (lithos), meaning "stone," and ὄψ (ops), meaning "face," referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. The formation of the name from the Greek "-ops" means that even a single plant is called a Lithops.
Description
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
opposite to each other and hardly any stem
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
. The slit between the leaves contains the meristem
Meristem
A meristem is the tissue in most plants consisting of undifferentiated cells , found in zones of the plant where growth can take place....
and produces flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s and new leaves. The leaves of Lithops are mostly buried below the surface of the soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
, with a partially or completely translucent top surface or window allowing light to enter the interior of the leaves for photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
.
During winter a new leaf pair, or occasionally more than one, grows inside the existing fused leaf pair. In spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
the old leaf pair parts to reveal the new leaves and the old leaves will then dry up. Lithops leaves may shrink and disappear below ground level during drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
. Lithops in habitat almost never have more than one leaf pair per head, the environment is just too arid to support this. Yellow or white flowers emerge from the fissure between the leaves after the new leaf pair has fully matured, one per leaf pair. This is usually in autumn, but can be before the summer equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
in L. pseudotruncatella and after the winter equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
in L. optica
Lithops optica
Lithops optica is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:* Loots, S. 2004. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
. The flowers are often sweetly scented.
The most startling adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
of Lithops is the colouring of the leaves. The leaves are not green as in almost all higher plants, but various shades of cream, grey, and brown, patterned with darker windowed areas, dots, and red lines. The markings on the top surface disguise the plant in its surroundings.
Lithops are obligate outcrossers
Outcrossing
Outcrossing is the practice of introducing unrelated genetic material into a breeding line. It increases genetic diversity, thus reducing the probability of all individuals being subject to disease or reducing genetic abnormalities...
and require pollination
Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
from a separate plant. Like most mesembs, Lithops fruit is a dry capsule
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
that opens when it becomes wet; some seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s may be ejected by falling raindrops, and the capsule re-closes when it dries out. Capsules may also sometimes detach and be distributed intact, or may disintegrate after several years.
Distribution
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, as well as small bordering areas in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
and possibly Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, from sea level to high mountains. Nearly a thousand individual populations are documented, each covering just a small area of dry grassland, veld
Veld
The term Veld refers primarily to the wide open rural spaces of South Africa or southern Africa and in particular to certain flatter areas or districts covered in grass or low scrub...
, or bare rocky ground. Different Lithops species are preferentially found in particular environments, usually restricted to a particular type of rock. Lithops have not naturalised outside this region.
Rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
fall in Lithops habitats ranges from approximately 700 mm/year to near zero. Rainfall patterns range from exclusively summer rain to exclusively winter rain, with a few species relying almost entirely on dew formation for moisture. Temperatures are usually hot in summer and cool to cold in winter, but one species is found right at the coast with very moderate temperatures year round.
Cultivation
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s and plants are widely available in shops and over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. They are relatively easy to grow if given sufficient sun and a suitable well drained-soil.
Normal treatment in mild temperate climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
s is to keep them completely dry during winter, watering only when the old leaves have dried up and been replaced by a new leaf pair. Watering continues through autumn when the plants flower and then stopped for winter. The best results are obtained with additional heat such as a greenhouse. In hotter climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
s Lithops will have a summer dormancy when they should be kept mostly dry, and they may require some water in winter. In tropical
Tropical climate
A tropical climate is a climate of the tropics. In the Köppen climate classification it is a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above...
climates, Lithops can be grown primarily in winter with a long summer dormancy. In all conditions, Lithops will be most active and need most water during autumn and each species will flower at approximately the same time.
Lithops thrive best in a coarse, well-drained substrate. Any soil that retains too much water will cause the plants to burst their skins as they over-expand. Plants grown in strong light will develop hard strongly coloured skins which are resistant to damage and rot, although persistent overwatering will still be fatal. Excessive heat will kill potted plants as they cannot cool themselves by transpiration
Transpiration
Transpiration is a process similar to evaporation. It is a part of the water cycle, and it is the loss of water vapor from parts of plants , especially in leaves but also in stems, flowers and roots. Leaf surfaces are dotted with openings which are collectively called stomata, and in most plants...
and rely on staying buried in cool soil below the surface.
Propagation of Lithops is by seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
or cuttings. Cuttings can only be used to produce new plants after a plant has naturally divided to form multiple heads, so most propagation is by seed. Lithops can readily be pollinated by hand if two separate clone
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
s of a species flower at the same time, and seed will be ripe
Ripening
Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, a fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the fruit seem tarter, which can lead to the...
about 9 months later. Seed is easy to germinate, but the seedlings are small and vulnerable for the first year or two, and will not flower until at least two or three years old.
History
The first scientific description of a Lithops was made by William John BurchellWilliam John Burchell
William John Burchell was an English explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist and author. He was the son of Matthew Burchell, botanist and owner of Fulham Nursery, nine and a half acres of land adjacent to the gardens of Fulham Palace. Burchell served a botanical apprenticeship at Kew and was...
, explorer of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, botanist and artist, although he called it Mesembryanthemum
Mesembryanthemum
Mesembryanthemum is a genus of plants native to southern Africa. Many species which were formerly placed herein have since been moved into other genera such as Carpobrotus Sceletium is sometimes included here....
turbiniforme. In 1811 he accidentally found a specimen when picking up from the ground a "curiously shaped pebble".. Unfortunately his description isn't detailed enough to be sure which Lithops he had discovered and the name Lithops turbiniformis is no longer used, although for many years it was applied to what is now known as Lithops hookeri.
Several more Lithops were published as Mesembryanthemum
Mesembryanthemum
Mesembryanthemum is a genus of plants native to southern Africa. Many species which were formerly placed herein have since been moved into other genera such as Carpobrotus Sceletium is sometimes included here....
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
until in 1922 N E Brown started to split up the overly large genus on the basis of the capsules
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
. The genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Lithops was created and dozens more species were published in the following decades. Brown, Gustav Schwantes, Kurt Dinter
Kurt Dinter
Moritz Kurt Dinter , was a German botanist and explorer in South West Africa.- Education and career :...
, Gert Nel, and Louisa Bolus continued to document Lithops from across southern Africa, but there was little consensus on the relationships between them, or even which populations should be grouped as species. As recently as the 1950s, the genus was little known in cultivation and not well understood taxonomically.
In the 1950s, Desmond and Naureen Cole began to study Lithops. They eventually visited nearly all habitat populations and collected samples from approximately 400, identifying them with the Cole numbers which have been used ever since and distributing Cole numbered seed around the world. They studied and revised the genus, in 1988 publishing a definitive book (Lithops: Flowering Stones) describing the species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
, and varieties
Variety (plant)
Plant variety is a legal term, following the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants Convention. Recognition of a cultivated plant as a "variety" in this particular sense provides its breeder with some legal protection, so-called plant breeders' rights, depending to some...
which have been accepted ever since.
New species continue to be discovered steadily in remote regions of Namibia and South Africa, most recently L. coleorum in 1994, L. hermetica
Lithops hermetica
Lithops hermetica is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It was assessed by Lyndley Craven....
in 2000, and L. amicorum in 2006.
Taxonomy
Many of the species listed have named subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
or varieties and some have many regional form
Form (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, a form is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon...
s identified by old names or habitat locations. Identification of species is primarily by flower colour and leaf patterns.
!Meaning
|-
|amicorum
|of the friends
|-
|aucampiae
Lithops aucampiae
Lithops aucampiae is a species of Lithops found in South Africa. it was named after Juanita Aucamp, who found a specimen on her father's farm in Postmasburg, Northern Cape in 1929.-Habitat:...
|named after Juanita Aucamp
|-
|bromfieldii
Lithops bromfieldii
Lithops bromfieldii, also called the living stone, is a succulent plant from the genus Lithops native to South Africa that looks like stones when not in bloom. It is a tan and reddish brown and can bloom in the fall and in green, white, red or orange....
|named after H. Bromfield
|-
|coleorum
|named after Desmond & Naureen Cole
|-
|comptonii
|named after Prof. Harold Compton
|-
|dinteri
|named after Moritz Kurt Dinter
|-
|divergens
|divergent lobes
|-
|dorotheae
|named after Dorothea Huyssteen
|-
|francisci
|named after Frantz de Laet
|-
|fulviceps
Lithops fulviceps
Lithops fulviceps is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitats are rocky areas and cold desert. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* Loots, S. 2004. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
(aka lydiae)
|tawny head
|-
|gesineae
|named after Gesine de Boer
|-
|geyeri
|named after Dr. Albertus Geyer
|-
|gracilidelineata
|thin lined
|-
|hallii (aka salicola var. reticulata)
|named after Harry Hall
|-
|helmutii
|named after Helmut Meyer
|-
|hermetica
Lithops hermetica
Lithops hermetica is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It was assessed by Lyndley Craven....
|named after the location 'hermetically sealed', Sperrgebiet
|-
|herrei
|named after Adolar 'Hans' Herre
|-
|hookeri (aka dabneri, marginata, turbiniformis var. lutea)
|named after Sir Joseph Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
|-
|julii (aka fulleri)
|named after Dr. Julius Derenberg
|-
|karasmontana
|named after the Karas Mountains
|-
|lesliei
|named after T. N. Leslie
|-
|localis (aka terricolor, peersii)
|of a place
|-
|marmorata (aka diutina, framesii, umdausensis)
|marbled
|-
|meyeri
|named after Rev. Gottlieb Meyer
|-
|naureeniae
|named after Naureen Cole
|-
|olivacea
|olive-green
|-
|optica
Lithops optica
Lithops optica is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:* Loots, S. 2004. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
(aka rubra)
|eye-like
|-
|otzeniana
|named after M. Otzen
|-
|pseudotruncatella
|had been confused with Conophytum truncatum (aka Mesembryanthemum truncatellum)
|-
|ruschiorum
Lithops ruschiorum
Lithops ruschiorum is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitats are rocky areas and cold desert.-References:* Loots, S. 2004. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
|named after Rusch family
|-
|salicola
|salt-dweller
|-
|schwantesii
|named after Gustav Schwantes
|-
|vallis-mariae
Lithops vallis-mariae
Lithops vallis-mariae is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
|named after the location Mariental
Mariental, Namibia
Mariental is a town of 10,000 inhabitants in south-central Namibia, lying on the B1 national road 145 miles north of Keetmanshoop and 170 miles southeast of Windhoek. It lies at an elevation of 3,576 feet . Mariental is connected to the TransNamib railway line from Windhoek to Keetmanshoop...
(Latinised)
|-
|verruculosa
|warty
|-
|villetii (aka deboeri)
|named after Dr. C. T. Villet
|-
|viridis
Lithops viridis
The Green Rock-plant, Lithops viridis, is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. Its rocklike leaves protect it from predators. Its leaves are succulent. The daisy-like flowers close at night, and this one is one of the handful of Lithops with green leaves. Its two leaves are formed like a...
|green
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|werneri
Lithops werneri
Lithops werneri is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky areas.Several recent visitors over a period of years to the only known habitat of Lithops werneri report that no plants could be found and it may possibly be extinct.-Source:*...
|named after Werner Triebner
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External links
- Lithops info from the BBC (UK)
- A guide to the cultivation of Lithops
- Lithops books and links
- Lithops gallery
- Lithops photo album (François Hoes, Belgium)
- lithops.es (Spanish info)
- manolithops.es (Spanish info)