Description
Lithops villetii subs. kennedyi is a fairly easy to identify subspecies of Lithops villetii. Distinguished from the latter by its truncate profile, narrow and much indented margins and generally reddish-brown colour; uniform and usually easily identifiable. They are generally smaller and greyer in colour than the mainly reddish-brown forms occurring in all other localities.
Habit: It is grows solitary or forming clumps of up to 4 or more heads, mostly 2 and conforms to the typical Lithops morphology: two thick, fleshy windowed leaves separated by a crack from which a yellow flower appears. The windowed part allows light into the inner portion of the leaf where the process of photosynthesis is carried out.
Bodies (paired leaves): Truncate-cordate in profile, medium to klarge, 28-36 mm in diameter up to 3 cm high and about 20-25 mm wide at the fissure. Fissure shallow, 5-10 mm. Lobes conjunct or very slightly divergent. Face flush, elliptic-reniform; lobes equal-unequal. The upper surface is slightly rugose, variable in colour, usually greenish yellow, dark grey-green or brownish, slightly convex, while the sides are light greyish-brown or light brown. Windows usually partially occluded, to completely open, opaque greenish or brownish grey or greyish green, brown, orange-brown or purplish brown. Islands are numerous, small, usually distinct but irregular, occasionally reduced to hazy flecks, opaque grey, bluish or pinkish grey, or greyish pink, brown, orange-brown or red. Margins distinct, somewhat in relief, very irregularly dentate or sinuate with numerous peninsulas some colour of islands . Channels mostly fairly narrow, irregular, various shades of opaque greenish or brownish grey or greyish green, brown, orange-brown or purplish brown. Dusky dots rarely visible even with a lens, very obscure. Rubrications absent. Shoulders sometimes grey or bluish grey; sometimes this colour extends also onto the peninsulas and outer islands.
Flowers: Daisy-like, diurnal, small to medium, 2-3 cm diameter. Petals satiny white.
Blooming season: Autumn (in habitat blooms in April).
Fruits: Capsules 6-parted. Profile boat-shaped, top flat. Face broadly elliptic. This capsule only opens when moistened, exposing the tiny seeds. In nature, falling rain drops splash out the seeds to a distance of a few centimetres to up to a metre or more from the parent plant. After the capsule dries up it closes again, protecting any seeds left behind.
Seeds: Yellow-brown to light brown, smooth to rugose.
Origin and Habitat
80 km South Sputh East of Pofadder, South Africa.
Calvinia District, Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa, between Pofadder and Loeriesfontein and East of Gamoep, East of the range of subsp. deboeri, and some 40 km N of the range of subsp. villetii.
Habitat: Lithops villetii subs. kennedyi is native to dry winter rainfall areas where it grows in barren minerals terrains clinging to life in this harsh landscape. They live a precarious existence hidden beneath outcrops of pinkish grey-white calcrete . They grow almost completely buried in the ground with only the upper truncated portion of the thick, succulent leaves visible. It resist attacks from herbivorous predators by mimicking the local stone formations, and is almost impossible to distinguish from their surroundings until they erupt into vivid daisy-like white flowers. Colours of the background reddish brown, greyish brown, with some grey, pink, black, white; pinkish grey-white with some grey, dark brown, black. When they are found, it is usually due to their large and brightly coloured flowers flowers.
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).
Notes
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”.
Remarks: 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 (2002) “Aizoaceae F – Z” Springer
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Achim Hecktheuer (2008) “Mesembs, mehr als nur Lithops” Books on Demand GmbH Norderstedt.
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Desmond T. Cole & Naureen A. Cole, Uwe Beyer, Yves Delange (2008) “Les Lithops” SUCCULENTES Spécial 2008 AIAPS (now Terra seca).
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Desmond T. Cole & Naureen A. Cole (2005) “LITHOPS Flowering Stones” Cactus & Co. Libri.
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Yasuhiko Shimada (2001) “The Genus Lithops” Dobun Shoin. ISBN 4-8103-4066-X
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Rudolf Heine (1986) “Lithops - Lebende Steine” Neumann Verlag.
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Bernd Schlösser (2000) “Lithops – Lebende Steine” Praktische Anleitung für die Zimmerkultur. BussinessPoint MEDIA.
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Steven A. Hammer (1999) “Lithops – Treasures of the veld” British Cactus and Succulent Society.
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Desmond T. Cole (1988) “Lithops – Flowering Stones” Acorn Books CC.
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Rudolf Heine (1986) “Lithops – lebende Steine” Neumann Verlag.
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David L. Sprechman (1970) “Lithops” Associated University Presses, Inc.
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Gert Cornelius Nel (1946) “Lithops” Hortors Limited, South Africa.
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