The Lithops on the left is definitely Lithops fulviceps cultivar aurea, should flower with a white flower and is quite a choice plant. The one on the right could be one of two or three species, salicola or olivacea would be my first thoughts. There are some pictures of some of my Lithops in the General section of the Forum see if you can find one that matches it and let me know.
The Haworthia looks familiar but after all the trouble with the other ones I'll think on it for a while.
I'll get back to you on the others as well, going fishing now.
We saw your collection of lithops and they are beautiful. Since you are an expert, I am enclosing my 3rd one, which seems to be L. aucampiae 'Kuruman' form.
Someone told us it is natural for them to shrink, - is that your experience. All 3 were the same size when bought about a month ago.
As to the other one not yet identified, I am not even sure they are the same species since the color is different. A website shows insularis as 2 colors in July and August, however.
The Haworthia in the top picture looks like tessellata.
The two Lithops of different species I think the top one is salicola and the bottom one olivacea.
The second picture the Euphorbia on the left could be meloformis or valida, but I can't see the markings well enough to confirm that. The next Euphorbia I am not sure about at all that one has me puzzled. The Kalanchoe next to it looks like fedtschenkoi and the Crassula looks like a cultivar of falcata.
The next pic. I don't think is Euphorbia enopla looks more like fimbriata.
Looking at your Lithops it does not look like aucuampiae at all. I think it is hookeri. Lithops aucampiae would have a smoother surface to the 'windows' on top of the plant. hookeri should look like it does in the picture. Lithops can be very difficult to ID because there are many slight colour variations, even from the same seed pod.
In answer to your question about shrinking, no they should not shrink. Lithops are not the easiest of plants to look after successfully, they have a very definite growing and resting period. The plants if they are going to flower will do so in autumn with either a white or yellow flower depending on the species. After they have flowered water should be with-held. The plant will then produce a complete new body from within the old one. The fissure between the two halves of the body (leaves) will open up and the new body will push through. It takes all its nourishment from the old body which eventually shrinks to almost paper thickness. Watering can begin again only when the old body has dried up completely. Probably late April.
Lithops like half a days full sun but must have plenty of air passing over them or they 'boil' within the body. They must also be allowed to dry between watering, this is essential or they will just rot. Lithops have been known to last two years without water. I would not recommend it, but it shows you do not need to be too hasty with the watering can.
I think you are right on all counts after looking more. As to the brown one, the markings look a bit more like the aucampiea (sp?) than the hookeri (based on pics on the desert tropical site), but ours is clearly indented like the hookeri.
What is the official body that decides anyway. I have heard a little about CITES, but am not sure what exactly it is, or if they have a site to look at. Indeed, the Huntington has about 200 lithops, all labelled, and many of which appear identical to me. The belgian website also is a bit mind boggling.
Looked more at the belgian cite. What do you think about the possible hookeri instead being Halli othracea. They look similar, so hard to tell, but the halli (shown below) seems to have slightly thicker dark brown markings than the hookeri, and for that reason looks like ours to me.
Actually, the ones on top look look different than those below, so I don't know if they are all halli.
Mike,
If you are interested, look at my lithops on the General section, on row 2 (coming down the picture) the first one is Lithops hallii ochracea, the second one is Lithops aucampiae kuruman form. On row 9 second from the left is a Lithops hookeri. Are any of those like yours. My kuruman is a very dark form.
The man who is 'Mr. Lithops' is Desmond T. Cole who has recorded many new species in South Africa and has written what is considered the Lithops 'bible'. You will find many Lithops that have a Cole or C number. These are not collection numbers, but reference numbers of the area where they were first found. In the US you also have a guy called Steven Hammer who is extremely knowledgeable and has written about them. Fortunately I have the books of both these people. It is still very difficult to ID as the colouring and markings differ from plant to plant.
The nice thing about Lithops is that you get a new plant from the old one every year.
I will try and put something up about Cites later, unless Daiv already has something on the Forum that I have missed.
I looked, and it looks most like the Halli, or the pic at the very bottom right of your pics.
The shrunken one seems to have liquefied underneath the head - it looks like there may be some root below it, and half of the head is pretty well gone. so I think we lost that one - I will leave it, and see if anything happens unless you know a cure at that point.
On the Haworthia above, I looked at so many I can't see straight - a dutch site with about 600 pics and the belgian site with 300. Your call seems closest, although the leave shape differs. Ours seems rounded, comming to a point, while the pics seem more straigt edged. But I didn't see any with our shaped leaves.
Thanks for the help.
By the way, I will leave you one on the unknown aloe/haworthia as well.
It looks like Haworthia tessellata to me from the photograph, but there are one or two others very similar. Try looking for Haworthia comptoniana, mirabilis or parksiana. All these have similar shape and markings. And there are probably more that I have not seen.
I know when I say it may be one of several that some people may think you either know what it is or you don't, but I am afraid it doesn't work like that, particularly with photographs.
The pic on the bottom right of my Lithops is Lithops karasmontana and I don't think yours is that one. As far as the Lithops that has gone to mush, there is nothing you can do. Lithops 'heads' as they are called should be firm to the touch. As I think I said unless there is a good flow of air around them really hot sun can make them literally boil. This seems strange when they come from a hot country, but it is true. As far as the watering can goes for Lithops It is best to nail it to the floor, but certainly I would say no more than once a fortnight. The pot must, must,must dry out before water is applied again.
Hope one of the above nails the Haworthia for you.
You will have to leave that one with me. Euphorbias do of course hybridise and this plant could be a hybrid. Most of the globular Euphorbia (Obesa, symmetrica, meloformis will hybridise with one another.
Looks right. The pics in the books I got show a larger plant, and most of the plants are longer. But when looking at the small ones in the middle, they are very similiar.
The stems of globosa usually start off elongated and as they become more mature end up globular.
Succulents come into and go out of fashion just like clothes and I have not seen that particular Euphorbia for about 30 years. It is a terrific little plant and was one of the first Euphorbias I ever bought, along with Euphorbia obesa. That is another one I would be begging a cutting of if I lived close by.
