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Lithops lesliei var. mariae C152 30 km NNE of Kimberley, South Africa

Family: AIZOACEAE · Variety or form of Lithops lesliei

Description

Lithops lesliei var. mariae is one of the local form of the very variable Lithops lesliei. It has a gold speckled, uniform, clear orangish or butter coloured body, and is easily recognised for the extraordinary fineness of its crowded, dark points, approaching the resolution of a good computer screen.

Habit: Lithops lesliei var. mariae grows solitary or in small clumps of 1 to 10 paired leaves (mostly 2 to 5) up to 5 cm wide (often more in cultivation). 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.

Roots: It has soft rootstocks.

Stem: Almost stemless.

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; Faces gold speckled, uniform, clear orangish or butter coloured, and covered with extremely fine crowded, dark points forming an intricate design.

Flowers: A single medium to very large yellow (or rarely white) daisy-like flower emerges from the fissure and is as large as the pair of fleshy leaves below. About 3-5 cm wide, diurnal.

Blooming season: From mid-summer through fall.

Seeds: Light to dark brown, very fine.

Origin and Habitat

30 km North-North-East of Kimberley, South Africa.

Cultivation and Propagation

After flowering in the autumn and extending through winter the plant doesn’t need watering, but they extracts water from the outer succulent leaves, allowing them to shrivel away, relocating water to the rest of the plant and to the new leaves that form during this period. This plant is best for a well lit area (Bright shade to full sun). Water sparingly only when warm, no water when cold.

Bibliography

Major refences and further lectures

  1. Heidrun E. K. Hartmann “Aizoaceae F – Z” Springer 2002

  2. Achim Hecktheuer “Mesembs, mehr als nur Lithops” Books on Demand GmbH Norderstedt. 2008

  3. Desmond T. Cole & Naureen A. Cole, Uwe Beyer, Yves Delange “Les Lithops” SUCCULENTES Spécial 2008 AIAPS (now Terra seca). 2008

  4. Desmond T. Cole & Naureen A. Cole “LITHOPS Flowering Stones” Cactus & Co. Libri. 2005

  5. Yasuhiko Shimada “The Genus Lithops” Dobun Shoin. 2001

  6. Rudolf Heine “Lithops - Lebende Steine” Neumann Verlag. 1986

  7. Bernd Schlösser “Lithops – Lebende Steine” Praktische Anleitung für die Zimmerkultur. BussinessPoint MEDIA. 2000

  8. Steven A. Hammer “Lithops – Treasures of the veld” British Cactus and Succulent Society. 1999

  9. Desmond T. Cole “Lithops – Flowering Stones” Acorn Books 1988

  10. Rudolf Heine “Lithops – lebende Steine” Neumann Verlag. 1986

  11. David L. Sprechman “Lithops” Associated University Presses, Inc. 1970

  12. Gert Cornelius Nel “Lithops” Hortors Limited, South Africa 1946

  13. Edgar Lamb “The illustrated reference on cacti and other succulents” Blandford Press. 1978

  14. Christopher Brickell, Royal Horticultural Society “RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants: K-Z., Volume 2” Kindersley, 2008

  15. G. C . Nel “Lithops: Plantae succulantae, rarissimae, in terra obscuratae, e famailia Aizoaceae, ex Africa australi” Hortors Limited, Cape Town, South Africa 1946

  16. Heidrun E. K. Hartmann “Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae F-Z” Springer, 2002

  17. Steven A. Hammer “Lithops: Joyaux du veld” Editions Quae, 25/nov/2010