Funny Little Stones - South Africa's Lithops

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Funny Little Stones
A friend gave me a call to ask where he could buy some living stones. He'd recently remodeled his home and had added a greenhouse window to the master bedroom and now wanted to grow plants there. Something easy I think he said. At the time I thought my friend, a less than avid gardener, would be better off with one of those pet rocks some entrepreneur marketed some years back -- no soil, no fertilizer, no watering, no special light conditions -- guaranteed success.

Knowing where my friend lived I sent him to what I thought would be his nearest source: Bach's greenhouse on Thornydale on the far northwest side of Tucson. A few months later I asked about his living stones experience and discovered they hadn't all made it in the environment he'd supplied. He wanted to know why because the plants looked like they'd be easy to grow.

I told him I'd see what I could find out and at the same time try my hand at raising a few of the stones. I'd seen the succulents for sale on several occasions on my visits to various cactus and succulent specialty growing greenhouses around Tucson but I'd never considered trying to grow them. Frankly, there's not much to the little plants and I figured I couldn't get any satisfaction growing them.

Native to South Africa and the Namib Desert
Living stones are a plant oddity that most people notice when they see them growing in small pots. They are actively sought by succulent collectors. Formerly members of the Mesembryanthemum family, now called the Aizoaceae, and in the genus Lithops (Greek litho for stone and ops for face or appearance) their native habitat is along the west coast of South Africa and South West Africa.

Knowing little about the Lithops I checked out a couple of the local commercial cactus and succulent Web sites and found The Living Stone and Plants for the Southwest Nursery on north Stone Avenue (an appropriate address for the Living Stone nursery) and Blacklidge. I visited the business early one Wednesday morning and was greeted by Jane Evans, one of the owners, and told her I was interested in seeing and learning about living stones.

A wide selection of Lithops growing at the Living Stone and Plants for the Southwest Nursery.

She led me to a greenhouse where many different varieties of Lithops were grown in a mix of soil and pumice to allow for plenty of drainage for these drought tolerant plants. She explained they grow in the cool season and flower in the fall. Looking at the small, fleshy, stone-like plants as she spoke I wondered what the fascination was some people had with these odd looking specimens of nature. Jane quickly pointed out many of the differences to me. At first they all appeared fairly similar in appearance but on closer inspection I could see different colors in the plants themselves and distinct, intricate patterns on the face of the fleshy leaves.

Top row from left: L. lesliei L. hookeri L. hallii (Brown form)		Bottom row from left: L. karasmontana v. lericheana L. fulviceps cv. Aurea L. karasmontana v. hella
		A Lithops' intricate leaf detail.

I told the grower about the sad demise of my friend's plants and she said one of the biggest problems was over watering which causes the plants to rot. My friend's growing the plants in a hot bright window may not have helped in their survival either.


L. karasmontana v. lericheana	L. Lesliei	L. karasmontana v. hella

At the nursery, Jane Evans explained they start the heaviest watering when the plants begin to flower then after the flowering, the water is cut back so the plants will absorb the moisture from the older thick leaves as new leaves burst forth. In the hot summer months shade cloth is added to the Living Stones Nursery greenhouse to give needed protection from Tucson's hot desert sun and an occasional light misting about every two weeks is added to help cool the plant's surface. It's interesting to note that African plants also find Tucson's hot summers somewhat unbearable. She also said if I wanted I could plant Lithops outside in a Tucson garden but some of our local birds find the small fleshy leaves irresistible.

Learning to Grow
Willing to try something new and curious to see the funny little stones bloom, I purchased a collection of ten Lithops and a copy of The New Growing the Mesembs by Ed Storms at the Living Stones and Plants of the Southwest Nursery. The transition to the Aizoaceae family name hadn't occurred when Storm's book was published in 1986. However there is an extensive 12 page color section showing about 145 different Lithops species. There are also good growing suggestions for the plants. Storm's study of African Mesembs (Aizoaceae) and Lithops is quite extensive and his writings and photographs are an excellent resource for anyone wanting to venture into the living stone quarry. I also found the pictures of the desert environment of south and southwest Africa where members of the Aizoaceae family are found to be quite interesting in showing how truly adaptive plants can be to survive.

Now that I have plants and a written guide I'll have to see if my collection of Lithops can adapt to the environment and care I plan on giving them. Once I find an appealing container that's deep enough for the root system I'll group my living stones together giving me a minute piece of African desert and an extremely low maintenance dish garden. (1999)

Living Stones update 10/99
After a spring and summer of neglect the small collection of Lithops survived. In September all the Lithops were transplanted from individual containers into one large shallow clay pot and splashed with a bit of water. All the care seemed to cause two fatalities (L. fulviceps CV Aurea and L. karasmontana v. hella) and a couple of the others looked like they might have gotten a little sunburn somewhere along the way. Living in a dry climate one gets the urge to water and the Lithops really don't need much to survive. Lithops have a better chance of surviving on almost total neglect.

The L. schwantesii blossom begins to open.

At the left L. hookeri blooms in late afternoon sunshine.

In mid October two of the plants sent up shoots which I watched with curiosity as the two buds matured and then opened. The colorful flowers were large compared to the size of the thumb sized plants.