Lithops

Lithops

Lithops is a genus of the family of Mesembryanthemum plants ( Aizoaceae ), and belongs there in the subfamily of Ruschioideae. The species are widespread in southern Africa in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. There are succulent plants, the botanical name of the genus is derived from the Greek nouns " λίθος " ( lithos ) for " stone " and " ὅψις " ( opsis ) for " appearance " from. He points to the similarity of the plants with the stones, between which they normally grow. In German, it and other such adapted succulent plants are also called " living stones ".

Special botanical names

For the description of the genus Lithops and their species some special designations were introduced by botanists. As the head of the deformed sheet pair is referred to that forms the plant body. The rear division between the two sheets is called gap. This divides the head into two praise. The end face of the upper leaf surface of a head. At the end surface are translucent or semi- translucent areas as windows and opaque areas, which are called islands. Are many or large islands exist, the window is reduced to channels. The inner and outer non-transparent areas on the end face, which surround the window and channels hot edges. In the windows or channels of many species occur red dots, lines, hooks or lines that are grouped together under the name Rubrikation.

Description

Mature plants are divided by a gap in the two most unequal large leaves ( praise ). This praise have grown top-shaped or nearly cylindrical. They have approximately conical shape, which keeps the small surface area in comparison to the volume, so that the evaporation is minimal. The Praise reach grown a diameter of about 2 to 5 cm and a height of about 3 cm.

By the top of the Praise light passes through a so-called window into the plant. Lithops tolerate direct sunlight and a climate that is characterized by low precipitation and frost-free.

The yellow or white flowers appear after the rainy season at the end of the main growing season ( September to November) from the gap between the praise.

The plants form a year from a pair of new leaves. During the dry season the old pair of leaves surrounding the new and also serves as a water dispenser. If the plant is old enough to copy from a well, two pairs praise arise ( Vegetative propagation ). Plants are mentioned in the literature, which exhibited up to 200 heads; these had to be several decades old. The older the plant is, the more difficult is the attitude.

Lithops have taproots, so that they can reach water even at greater depths.

Lithops are an example of mimicry in plants. They imitate in form and color the stones in their environment by, and are therefore harder to find in the rest period, as they are well camouflaged and usually quite pull in the back ground. In the growing phase is usually seen only the surface of the plant. The plants protect themselves by before the extremely high sunlight.

Systematics and distribution

The distribution of the genus Lithops extends into Namibia Kaokoland to Warmbad and includes the provinces of Northern Cape in South Africa, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, North West, Gauteng, Limpopo and. In the southeastern Botswana few population of Lithops lesliei were found.

After Desmond Thorne Cole ( * 1922 ) is composed of the genus:

• Lithops aucampiae L. Bolus

• Lithops aucampiae subsp. aucampiae

• Lithops aucampiae subsp. aucampiae var aucampiae
• Lithops aucampiae subsp. aucampiae var koelemanii ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops aucampiae subsp. euniceae ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops aucampiae subsp. euniceae var euniceae
• Lithops aucampiae subsp. euniceae var fluminalis D.T.Cole

• Lithops bromfieldii L.Bolus

• Lithops bromfieldii var bromfieldii
• Lithops bromfieldii var glaudinae ( de Boer ) DTCole
• Lithops insularis var bromfieldii ( L.Bolus ) B.Fearn
• Lithops bromfieldii var mennellii ( L.Bolus ) B.Fearn

• Lithops coleorum S.A.Hammer & R.Uijs
• Lithops comptonii L.Bolus

• Lithops comptonii var comptonii
• Lithops comptonii var weberi ( Nel ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops dinteri Schwantes

• Lithops dinteri subsp. dinteri

• Lithops dinteri subsp. dinteri var dinteri
• Lithops dinteri subsp. dinteri var brevis ( L.Bolus ) B. Fearn

• Lithops dinteri subsp. frederici ( D.T.Cole ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops dinteri subsp. multipunctata ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops divergens L.Bolus

• Lithops divergens var divergens
• Lithops divergens var amethystina de Boer

• Lithops dorotheae Nel
• Lithops francisci ( Dinter & Schwantes ) N.E.Br.
• Lithops fulviceps ( N.E.Br. ) N.E.Br.

• Lithops fulviceps var fulviceps
• Lithops fulviceps var lactinea D.T.Cole

• Lithops gesineae de Boer

• Lithops gesineae var gesineae
• Lithops gesineae var annae ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops geyeri Nel
• Lithops gracilidelineata Dinter

• Lithops gracilidelineata subsp. gracilidelineata

• Lithops gracilidelineata subsp. gracilidelineata var gracilidelineata
• Lithops gracilidelineata subsp. gracilidelineata var waldroniae de Boer

• Lithops gracilidelineata subsp. brandbergensis ( Schwantes ex de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops hallii de Boer

• Lithops hallii var hallii
• Lithops hallii var ochracea ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops helmutii L.Bolus
• Lithops Hermetica D.T.Cole
• Lithops herrei L.Bolus
• Lithops hookeri ( Berg. ) Schwantes

• Lithops hookeri var hookeri
• Lithops hookeri var dabneri ( L.Bolus ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops hookeri var elephina ( D.T.Cole ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops hookeri var lutea ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops hookeri var marginata ( Nel ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops hookeri var subfenestrata ( de Boer ) DTCole
• Lithops hookeri var susannae ( D.T.Cole ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops julii ( Dinter & Schwantes ) N.E.Br.

• Lithops julii subsp. julii
• Lithops julii subsp. fulleri ( N.E.Br. ) B.Fearn

• Lithops julii subsp. fulleri var fulleri
• Lithops julii subsp. fulleri brunnea var de Boer
• Lithops julii subsp. fulleri var rouxii ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops karasmontana ( Dinter & Schwantes ) N.E.Br.

• Lithops karasmontana subsp. karasmontana

• Lithops karasmontana subsp. karasmontana var karasmontana
• Lithops karasmontana subsp. karasmontana var aiaisensis ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops karasmontana subsp. karasmontana var lericheana ( Dinter & Schwantes ) DTCole
• Lithops karasmontana subsp. karasmontana var tischeri D.T.Cole

• Lithops karasmontana subsp. bella ( N.E.Br. ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops karasmontana subsp. eberlanzii ( Dinter & Schwant. ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops lesliei ( N. E. Br ) N.E.Br.

• Lithops lesliei subsp. lesliei

• Lithops lesliei subsp. lesliei var lesliei
• Lithops lesliei subsp. lesliei var hornii de Boer
• Lithops lesliei subsp. lesliei var mariae D.T.Cole
• Lithops lesliei subsp. lesliei var minor de Boer
• Lithops lesliei subsp. lesliei var rubrobrunnea de Boer
• Lithops lesliei subsp. lesliei var venteri ( Nel ) de Boer & Boom

• Lithops lesliei subsp. burchellii D.T.Cole

• Lithops marmorata ( N.E.Br. ) N.E.Br.

• Lithops marmorata var marmorata
• Lithops marmorata var elisae ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops meyeri L.Bolus
• Lithops naureeniae D.T.Cole
• Lithops olivacea L. Bolus

• Lithops olivacea olivacea var
• Lithops olivacea var newbrownii D.T.Cole

• Lithops optica ( Marl. ) N.E.Br.
• Lithops otzeniana Nel
• Lithops pseudotruncatella ( Berg. ) N.E.Br.

• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. pseudotruncatella

• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. pseudotruncatella var pseudotruncatella
• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. pseudotruncatella var elisabethiae ( Dinter ) de Boer & Boom
• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. pseudotruncatella var riehmerae D.T.Cole

• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. archerae ( De Boer ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. dendritica ( Nel ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. groendrayensis ( Jacobsen ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops pseudotruncatella subsp. volkii ( Schwantes ex de Boer & Boom) D.T.Cole

• Lithops ruschiorum ( Dinter & Schwantes ) N.E.Br.

• Lithops ruschiorum var ruschiorum
• Lithops ruschiorum lineata var ( Nel ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops salicola L.Bolus
• Lithops schwantesii Dinter

• Lithops schwantesii subsp. schwantesii

• Lithops schwantesii subsp. schwantesii var schwantesii
• Lithops schwantesii subsp. schwantesii var rugosa ( Dinter ) de Boer & Boom
• Lithops schwantesii subsp. schwantesii var urikosensis ( Dinter ) De Boer & Boom

• Lithops schwantesii subsp. gebseri ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops steineckeana Phonetic
• Lithops terri color N.E.Br.
• Lithops vallis - mariae ( Dinter & Schwantes ) NEBr.
• Lithops verruculosa Nel

• Lithops verruculosa var verruculosa
• Lithops verruculosa glabra var de Boer

• Lithops villetii L. Bolus

• Lithops villetii subsp. villetii
• Lithops villetii subsp. deboeri ( Schwantes ) D.T.Cole
• Lithops villetii subsp. kennedyi ( de Boer ) D.T.Cole

• Lithops viridis H.A.Lückh.
• Lithops werneri Schwantes & Jacobsen

Botanical history

On September 14, 1811 listed William John Burchell, who was near Prieska in today's South Africa's Northern Cape Province:

" Some of the stony ground picking up what was a seemingly odd shaped pebbles, turned out to be a plant that was another kind in the extensive family of the Mesembryanthemum, but in color and appearance of the stones between which they grew up was very similar. "

After a drawing by Burchell, who had made ​​this almost a year after its discovery and on which the plant was called Mesembryanthemum turbiniforme, described Adrian Hardy Haworth 1821 this new way for the first time.

It was not until almost a century later, Nicholas Edward Brown the genus Lithops and ordered her next Mesembryanthemum Mesembryanthemum turbiniforme the species described by him or by Alwin Berger, Rudolf Marloth, Kurt Dinter and Gustav Schwantes since the beginning of the 20th century pseudotruncatellum (described 1908), Mesembryanthemum opticum (1910 ), Mesembryanthemum lesliei (1912 ), Mesembryanthemum fulviceps (1914), Mesembryanthemum karasmontanum (1920), Mesembryanthemum marmoratum (1920 ) and the new way to Lithops bella. The also known Mesembryanthemum hookeri ( discovered in 1874 ) and Mesembryanthemum locale (1920 described ) he Reserve left but in the genus Mesembryanthemum.

Endangering

In Appendix I of the CITES Convention no species of the genus Lithops are included. In the Red List of Threatened Species IUCN contrast, seven species are listed with different threat status. Three species, Lithops francisci, Lithops Hermetica, Lithops werneri are considered less ( " Vulnerable (VU )"). Lithops optica is Near Threatened ( " Near Threatened (NT )"). When not at risk ( "Least Concern ( LC) " ) are fulviceps Lithops, Lithops Lithops ruschiorum and vallis - mariae classified.

Evidence