Picture

sonia · Post by **sonia** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:14 pm

I took http://moriel.is-a-geek.org/blog/galler ... d=dsc02842 this picture during a trip to a botanical garden in Stellenbosch, South Africa. I'd be really happy to know what kind of succulent plant it is.

Thanks in advance!

cactusbutt · Post by **cactusbutt** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:47 pm

Hi Sonia
Its a Lithops or common name living stone
could be Lithops Mesembryanthemaceae
i dont know much about these little plants

hope i helped

Bob

sonia · Post by **sonia** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:20 pm

Thanks a lot for your reply, Bob!

In case any of you collect digital pictures, please feel free to use them.

http://moriel.is-a-geek.org/blog/galler ... d=dsc02844
http://moriel.is-a-geek.org/blog/galler ... d=dsc02842
http://moriel.is-a-geek.org/blog/galler ... d=dsc02843

Cheers,

Post by **daiv** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 5:03 am

sonia,
I think I might take you up on that and add one of your pictures to the "Cacti or Not?" section. Lithops are very often mistaken to be cacti.

Daiv

templegatejohn · Post by **templegatejohn** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 9:08 am

Hi Sonia,

I am 99.9% sure that your plant photograph is Lithops optica. It is a distinctive plant among the lithops because of its translucent windows in the top of the plant body. There is also another form which is much sought after called Lithops optica rubra. This plant has a ruby red coloured body.

Cheers,
John

sonia · Post by **sonia** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 5:08 pm

Daiv,

To be honest, I looked around the section "cacti or not" before posting but since I couldn't find anything looking like the picture above, decided get expert help here

So, I guess other people in my situation may find it useful to not misidentify it.

And BTW, since You're admin, I'd like to say I found this website/forum to be very useful. Keep the good work!

--
John,

Wow, thanks for the information! I hope to learn more about cacti and succulent plants in the future to become an active member in this forum.

Again, thanks a lot!

gunhat · Post by **gunhat** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 10:50 am

sonia wrote:I took http://moriel.is-a-geek.org/blog/galler ... d=dsc02842 this picture during a trip to a botanical garden in Stellenbosch, South Africa. I'd be really happy to know what kind of succulent plant it is.

Thanks in advance!

This plant is a Conophytum (Opthalmophyllum). It's not a Lithops, Lithops have yellow or white flowers

templegatejohn · Post by **templegatejohn** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:57 am

In the main I agree that Lithops do have yellow or white flowers, however I have myself had one that flowered pink and have seen several of the ones bred in Thailand of differing flower colours. These are obviously some sort of hybrid.

You may well be correct in your assumption and as I am no expert on Conophytum I cannot disagree, but I have never seen a Conophytum with such distinctly separated leaves.

Cheers
John

gunhat · Post by **gunhat** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:47 am

There are several hybrids of Lithops, with other flowercolours then white or yellow. The plant we are discussing belongs (I think) to a special branch of Conophytum: Opthalmophyllum. I have a couple of them myself. Look her for example (not a good picture):

http://public.fotki.com/gunnarhatletvei ... yllum.html

Gunnar

templegatejohn · Post by **templegatejohn** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:04 am

Hi Gunnar,

I did a little research last night, and I am sure that you are correct. I have a number of Lithops, but have never kept any other Mesembryanthemums.

The similarity between Lithops optica and the Ophthalmophyllums is amazing (apart from the flower colour). They say you learn something new every day and I guess I have certainly done that.

Best wishes
John

sonia · Post by **sonia** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:18 pm

Thanks for the info to both of you, John and Gunnar. Indeed, the difference between Conophytum and Lithops optica seems to be subtile. Actually I've never got interested in succulents before visiting Cape Town, South Africa. They have all kind of amazing species there and a magnificent Botanical Garden called Kirstenbosch (http://www.nbi.ac.za/).

Cheers,

Picture

Picture

Thanks!

Lithops

Thanks!

Re: Picture