Description
Lithops lesliei var. hornii is one of the local form of the very variable Lithops lesliei that differs in a number of colour characters, but not sufficiently differentiated and often considered merely a local variant of the latter (if not the same). Its faces typically displays an orangish-brown or pinkish-brown colouring with coarser, irregular and relatively opaque designs, and seems a brown coloured var. venteri.
Habit: Lithops lesliei var. hornii branches more profusely than other varieties, and often forms groups with more than 10 heads. Each heads consists of two leaves closely pressed together or united, except for a central fissure across the top, from which the large yellow flowers are produced.
Bodies (paired leaves): Medium-large, rounded from above, profile truncated, top of lobes elliptic-reniform, flat, smooth, sometimes slightly convex; sides coloured purple-grey, brownish or green; windows always present, rarely ridged or fully open, dark-green, consisting of small irregular, extremely variable confluent areas; densely or sparsely covered with orangish-brown or pinkish-brown irregular projections from the slightly raised margins; in these projections small round dark openings; outer margin distinct but very irregular, sonic laciniae being very short, others projecting into the window; inner margin nearly straight or provided with obtuse very short lobes, giving the whole margin a wavy appearance; on outer edge of the margins few or many irregular distributed more or less circular windows.
Flowers: Large yellow.
Blooming season: Autumn (in habitat blooms in April)
Fruits: Mostly 6-cambered.
Seeds: Reddish.
Origin and Habitat
40 km South West of Kimberley, South Africa.
Cultivation and Propagation
Need an open mineral, fast draining mix and the maximum amount of light you are able to give them. The basic cultivation routine is: Stop watering after flowering. Start watering after the old leaves completely dry. (Usually late March or Early April) Water freely during the growing season, soak the compost fully but allow it to dry out between waterings, no water when cold. Some growers fertilize frequently, some hardly ever. Keep them dry during the winter. Nearly all problems occur as a result of overwatering and poor ventilation especially when weather conditions are dull and cool or very humid. This plant is best for a well lit area (Bright shade to full sun).
Comment: After flowering in the autumn and extending through winter season the plant doesn’t need watering, but they will still be growing, the new bodies will be increasing in size extracting water from the outer succulent leaves, allowing them to shrivel away. In fact the plant in this time extracts water and nutrient stored in the outer succulent leaves, allowing them to dehydrate relocating the water to the rest of the plant and to the new leaves that form during this period until the old leaves are reduced to nothing more than “thin papery shells”.
Notes
Lithops are partly subterranean, with only the clear ‘window’ in each leaf tip exposed above soil. A type of optical system exists whereby a layer of apical tissue rich in calcium oxalate crystals acts as a filter to intense sunlight before it reaches the thin chlorophyllous layer below. They are also called mimicry plants as they show a striking similarity to their background rocks and are difficult to detect when not in flower. These are the commonly known as pebble plants or living stones; each species is associated with one particular type of rock formation and occurs nowhere else. Its soil-embedded, subterranean growth form also reduces the need for chemical defences against herbivores.
Bibliography
Major refences and further lectures
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Heidrun E. K. Hartmann “Aizoaceae F – Z” Springer 2002
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Achim Hecktheuer “Mesembs, mehr als nur Lithops” Books on Demand GmbH Norderstedt. 2008
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Desmond T. Cole & Naureen A. Cole, Uwe Beyer, Yves Delange “Les Lithops” SUCCULENTES Spécial 2008 AIAPS (now Terra seca). 2008
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Desmond T. Cole & Naureen A. Cole “LITHOPS Flowering Stones” Cactus & Co. Libri. 2005
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Yasuhiko Shimada “The Genus Lithops” Dobun Shoin. 2001
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Rudolf Heine “Lithops - Lebende Steine” Neumann Verlag. 1986
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Bernd Schlösser “Lithops – Lebende Steine” Praktische Anleitung für die Zimmerkultur. BussinessPoint MEDIA. 2000
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Steven A. Hammer “Lithops – Treasures of the veld” British Cactus and Succulent Society. 1999
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Desmond T. Cole “Lithops – Flowering Stones” Acorn Books 1988
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Rudolf Heine “Lithops – lebende Steine” Neumann Verlag. 1986
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David L. Sprechman “Lithops” Associated University Presses, Inc. 1970
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Gert Cornelius Nel “Lithops” Hortors Limited, South Africa 1946
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Edgar Lamb “The illustrated reference on cacti and other succulents” Blandford Press. 1978
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Christopher Brickell, Royal Horticultural Society “RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants: K-Z., Volume 2” Kindersley, 2008
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G. C . Nel “Lithops: Plantae succulantae, rarissimae, in terra obscuratae, e famailia Aizoaceae, ex Africa australi” Hortors Limited, Cape Town, South Africa 1946
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Heidrun E. K. Hartmann “Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae F-Z” Springer, 2002
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Steven A. Hammer “Lithops: Joyaux du veld” Editions Quae, 25/nov/2010
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