A Lithop Garden

I am not a gardener nor am I a plant enthusiast but I do love cactus and succulents. They are survivors and thrive on neglect. But one stands above them all.

The lithop.

Lithops (commonly called "flowering stones" or "living stones") are true mimicry plants: their shape, size and colour causes them to resemble small stones in their natural surroundings. The plants blend in among the stones as a means of protection. Grazing animals which would otherwise eat them during periods of drought to obtain moisture usually overlook them. Even experts in the field sometimes have difficulty locating plants for study because of this unusual deceptive camouflage.

They are very hard to find in Canada. I have a couple but very similar, although I saw one sprout last year. Today I found a garden of them.

I was walking by Pistols in First Canadian Place at lunch and there they were. About a half dozen potted gardens of Lithops. This one caught my eye due to the variety of colours and sizes.

When I brought them home I noticed I had really lucked out. This particular rust coloured number with two "petals" was sprouting into what looks like a four petaled growth. Wow!

This pot has joined my small collection on the only protected (from our two cats) window sill in our condo. When summer comes, it'll be moved outside.

Of course as "Rusty" sprouts, I will be updating.

Yes, I love lithops and now I have a small garden of them.

A New Lithop

Today I was walking by Dynasty In front of the store they always have a tray full of cactus and succulents. Today they also had some lithops. A different colour of lithop than I already have. So yes, I came home with one.

Lithops (commonly called „flowering stones“ or „living stones“) are true mimicry plants: their shape, size and color causes them to resemble small stones in their natural surroundings. The plants blend in among the stones as a means of protection. Grazing animals which would otherwise eat them during periods of drought to obtain moisture usually overlook them. Even experts in the field sometimes have difficulty locating plants for study because of this unusual deceptive camouflage.

This one will be joining the two which I already have. These ones have brown tops. They split into new growth earlier this summer. The lithops I have always seen before had only two sections. The one on the left has four.

Here it is in its new home until I can find a better pot to plant it in.

Lithops in Growth

OK. I'll tell you what I expected.

When I wrote my last column on lithops, I explained how the new growth inside a lythop, would grow up and split the existing top. What I had expected was though the plant was brown, as it grew, the stem would be brown.

Imagine my surprise this morning, when I looked and saw all that green. Yes, I know that plants grow green, I had just not expected this to sprout with a green stem.

The above picture not only shows the green but the withered leaves that once looked like the present one looked, only smaller. As the new stem grows, it draws water from the leaves, which dry up and eventually fall off.

Obviously I need to add some new soil to this as the present earth is dried up and the roots may become exposed. My weekend project, among others.

Lithops

I am not much of a gardener. In fact, I hate gardening. For some reason, though, I have always enjoyed having cactus and succulents. Perhaps it's because they thrive on neglect. If you give them too much love, water them too much, they will turn to mush and die.

Maybe that's why I like them so much. There's very little work to them.

What is the difference between a succulent and a cactus? Succulents are plants that store water in leaves, stems, or sometimes both. This means that a cactus is a succulent. The difference is that cacti grow thorns, spikes or needles to protect itself.

A long time ago I managed to own a couple of Lithops which are hard to come by in Canada. Unfortunately, I over watered and, of course, they died.

Lithops are native to South Africa. Also known as living stones, they survive in the wild by growing among real stones. This matter of camouflage keeps them hidden from hungry or thirsty predators and sometimes, even experts miss finding them. They get their moisture from mist and fog and can survive for many months without rain.

The above lithop has sprouted. Originally, it had only looked like the two centre pieces but smaller and without the shriveled leaf on each side. When it sprouts, the new growth rises through the middle of the plant from the inside. This splits the two outer bumps (leaves). As it is growing, it draws water from the original leaves, which dry up and whither away. You can see this from the picture above and below.

These two plants I found at Dynasty, a flower shop on Queen Street West. Lithops leaves can have many different designs and colour patterns on them. After the new growth comes in, they apparently flower. I can't wait for this to happen and will post pictures, if and when it happens.