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Lithops pseudotruncatella subs. archerae (de Boer) D.T.Cole

Family: AIZOACEAE · Variety or form of Lithops pseudotruncatella

Publication: Lithops Flowering Stones 217 (1988)

Description

Lithops pseudotruncatella subs. archerae is a distinct variety the very variable Lithops pseudotruncatella. It is similar to the type, but easily recognized for its truncate profile and round-elliptic face, the uniform milky grey-green colour is also very characteristic of this plant.

Habit: The plants are stemless, perennial succulents growing solitary or, usually, in clumps of 2-4 heads, but may occasionally form large clumps with more than 10 heads. Each heads consists of a single, simple, fleshy body which is split into two parts by a shallow fissure. From this cleft a single yellow flower blooms when climatic conditions are favourable. A fresh pair of leaves grows every year almost as if a new plant emerges between the old ones.

Body (paired leaves): The body is medium to large. Facial diameters 25-40 X 20-30 mm and up to 2 cm tall. Top of lobe flat to slightly concave (or sometime slightly convex) slightly rugulose (uneven). Faces round-elliptic. Sides grey light grey-green. Top of lobe varying opaque milky grey-green, sometimes bluish or yellowish. Windows numerous transluscent areas within indistinct light-coloured margins. Channels dark transluscent grey-green.

Flowers: Yellow, medium to large, up to 40 mm in diameter, but usually less.

Fruits: Seed capsules mostly 6-chambered.

Seeds: Light yellow-brown to brown smooth to rugose.

Chromosome number: 2n = 18

Origin and Habitat

Namibia

Habitat: Habitat: It is found growing among quartzite and mica schist stones.

Cultivation and Propagation

They 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). But don’t be afraid even the best growers have plants that mysteriously dry up, or leave during the night.

Remarks: 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

  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