I bought this Lithops (Living Stone) at Lowe's about a month ago. It already had a flower bud on it and that is why I chose it. I have killed several of these plants before, I suppose with too much water. They seem to need almost none. Lithops are native to dry areas in South Africa and Namibia that get about 2 inches of rain per year. Their entire body is about conserving moisture. The plant is reduced to two leaves that attach to a root system, During their growing season ( winter and spring) a second pair of leaves may develop from the center of the leaves. I had never seen one flower and was very pleased with this one. It is very daisy-like in appearance and lasted about a week.
Lithops are mimicry plants, able to escape the notice of grazing animals because they resemble pebbles.
This last picture is a different type of Lithops called Baby Toes.
The top plant is NOT a lithops plant it is a pleiospilos neli, part of the mesemb family of aziocae family, the second two are als. Pleiospilos but different kinds as oppose to the first plant in the first picture. The last picture is NOT a lithops plant either, it is a fenestria "baby toes" - they are all in the mesemb family of succulents called aziocea but they aren't lithops and thoe similar their care needs are different.
ReplyDeleteThought you'd like to know.
You seem to know a lot about these plants. I wonder if you can tell me how to keep them alive short of moving to a dessert.
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