View allAll Photos Tagged lithops
The Lithops lobes derived from ordinary plant leaves: The top side transmits light and is hard coated for protection, the bottom side has microscopic apertures (stomata) for gas exchange. This is the same with Lithops, besides the "leaves" have got a huge water storage layer within. It is fully transparent, and photosynthesis is performed by the green cells near the sidewalls, which are the bottom side of the "leaf". Lithops are CAM-Plants, that means that they perform photosynthesis and gas exchange differently scheduled, to keep the stomata closed at daytime to reduce transpiration.
The Lithops top side is called window due to its explicit transparency. Perfect: A red tinted window! On the one hand it transmits red light for photosynthesis and on the other it prevents the plant from looking green, so plant-eating animals won't find it.
Inside the plant body, there is a next pair of lobes waiting to take over next year. The outer lobes will nourish the new lobes during their growth and are sacrificed in spring. So Lithops never afford more than two lobes, except when splitting up into two plants. When watered all time, they try to behave like "normal" plants and build up one pair of leaves after the other. This quickly causes heavy ruptures because their anatomy does not allow for that.
another one of the 2013 seedling Lithops has come into flower, most have been yellow-flowered with the occasional white
another one of the 2013 seedling Lithops has come into flower, most have been yellow-flowered with the occasional white
New plants:
I bougt some other species of Lithops at the gardening store to fill up two spare pots that remained empty after the spider mite infestation losses. I cleaned the plants thoroughly before potting them because I do not want to possibly introduce new plant pests. The big round ones are amazing, I never saw them before.
Zoom in to the original size to see the individual cells on the surface.
Lithops are extremely succulent plants originating from the semi-deserts of southern Africa. Their plant body rests under ground, while on top they have transparent windows to let sunlight in for photosynthesis. A camouflage pattern on the windows lets them appear more or less like a pair of pebblestones, so hungry animals may hardly find them. I like them because they look like ornamented knobs or gemstones.
DO NOT MISS:
Be aware that sites from the southern hemisphere
have a six-month-shift in the description of the
annual lithops growing cycle.
New plants:
I bougt some other species of Lithops at the gardening store to fill up two spare pots that remained empty after the spider mite infestation losses. I cleaned the plants thoroughly before potting them because I do not want to possibly introduce new plant pests. The big round ones are amazing, I never saw them before.
Lithops are extremely succulent plants originating from the semi-deserts of southern Africa. Their plant body rests under ground, while on top they have transparent windows to let sunlight in for photosynthesis. A camouflage pattern on the windows lets them appear more or less like a pair of pebblestones, so hungry animals may hardly find them. I like them because they look like ornamented knobs or gemstones.
DO NOT MISS:
Be aware that sites from the southern hemisphere
have a six-month-shift in the description of the
annual lithops growing cycle.
The Lithops lobes derived from ordinary plant leaves: The top side transmits light and is hard coated for protection, the bottom side has microscopic apertures (stomata) for gas exchange. This is the same with Lithops, besides the "leaves" have got a huge water storage layer within. It is fully transparent, and photosynthesis is performed by the green cells near the sidewalls, which are the bottom side of the "leaf". Lithops are CAM-Plants, that means that they perform photosynthesis and gas exchange differently scheduled, to keep the stomata closed at daytime to reduce transpiration.
The Lithops top side is called window due to its explicit transparency. Perfect: A red tinted window! On the one hand it transmits red light for photosynthesis and on the other it prevents the plant from looking green, so plant-eating animals won't find it.
Inside the plant body, there is a next pair of lobes waiting to take over next year. The outer lobes will nourish the new lobes during their growth and are sacrificed in spring. So Lithops never afford more than two lobes, except when splitting up into two plants. When watered all time, they try to behave like "normal" plants and build up one pair of leaves after the other. This quickly causes heavy ruptures because their anatomy does not allow for that.
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
These are four different plants. Each plant has only two leaves. They originate from Southern Africa and bloom at the time when it is spring in their native country on the southern hemisphere.
I placed the dried outer lobes from last year in front.
Lithops are extremely succulent plants originating from the semi-deserts of southern Africa. Their plant body rests under ground, while on top they have transparent windows to let sunlight in for photosynthesis. A camouflage pattern on the windows lets them appear more or less like a pair of pebblestones, so hungry animals may hardly find them.
DO NOT MISS:
Be aware that sites from the southern hemisphere
have a six-month-shift in the description of the
annual lithops growing cycle.
Lithops are extremely succulent plants originating from the semi-deserts of southern Africa. Their plant body rests under ground, while on top they have transparent windows to let sunlight in for photosynthesis. A camouflage pattern on the windows lets them appear more or less like a pair of pebblestones, so hungry animals may hardly find them.
DO NOT MISS:
Be aware that sites from the southern hemisphere
have a six-month-shift in the description of the
annual lithops growing cycle.