It’s a stone! It’s an animal! Nope, it’s a plant!Lithops are a fun species in the ice plant family (

It’s a stone! It’s an animal! Nope, it’s a plant!Lithops are a fun species in the ice plant family (Aizoaceae) native to southern Africa. True mimicry plants, they tend to be referred to as “living stones” or “flower stones.” Their size, shape and colors resemble pebbles and small stones in their natural environment. Blending in is a form of protection from grazing animals that will eat them during the drought season. Experts in the field even have difficulty locating the plants for study because of their unusual camouflage. Divided into two separate leaves fused together at the base with a slit at the top of the connecting taproot. Lithops in their natural environments almost never have more than one leaf pair as it is just too arid to support such growth. Found in particular habitats and usually restricted to a certain type of rock, nearly a thousand individual populations are documented. Across wide areas of Namibia and southern Africa, bordering areas in Botswana and possibly Angola, from sea level to high in the mountains. One species has been found atop the Brandberg in central western Namibia!Being a perennial, this plant grows a new pair of leaves each year and no two plants have leaf markings exactly the same. Lithops begins growth during the fall continuing through the winter and into spring. In late spring or early summer, they start the dormant process, which is necessary for surviving the long period of intense heat and scarce rainfall of the drought season. They use stored water to get them through to shorter, cooler days when they can grow once more.Several areas where Lithops grow receive less than two inches of rain per month throughout the entire year. One species in particular depends on mist or fog to provide enough moisture. This plant could not live in these places if not for their ability to store water. Another interesting phenomena during extreme low rainfall is that the plant can actually pull themselves into the ground to such depth that they become semi-subterranean! Hiding in this way reduces the effects of drying out further from the harsh outside elements.When the plant reaches 3-5 years old, they begin to flower, producing cheerful white or yellow daisy-like blossoms and on rare occasions orange. Lithops are noonday flowering plants, one per leaf pair, blooming usually in fall but can be before the summer solstice and after the winter solstice. In the wild, original parent plants probably don’t live much longer than 25 years.Pollination is often achieved by a secondary source, usually by bumblebee-like insects and sometimes moths. Lithops then grow a seed capsule that holds hundreds of seeds in the middle of the two leaves that will open once the rain falls. Closing up again when its dry, the seeds can stay safely hidden and may still germinate for years to come. Capsules sometimes detach and can be distributed intact or disintegrate after several years. This plant helps itself by having a long lasting germination capacity yet short germination time. Lithops seeds can germinate within 2-7 days depending on weather conditions.At a certain age, Lithops can grow not just one but two or more new bodies each year. Depending on species, Lithops can have up to 10 or even 20 heads. The largest known plant is called a salicola with more than 350 heads!–MiImage Credit – http://bit.ly/2614o6mSources – http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantklm/lithops.htm http://www.lithops.info/ http://bit.ly/1Y2xI8c -- source link

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