The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and New Zealand. Highly succulent species that resemble stones are sometimes called mesembs.
Lithops is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words λίθος 'stone' and ὄψ 'face', referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. Lithops is both the genus name and the common name. The formation of the name from the Ancient Greek -ops means that even a single plant is called a Lithops.
Aloe comosa is a species of flowering plant in the Asphodelaceae family. It is commonly called Clanwilliam aloe) and is endemic to South Africa.
Gonialoe dinteri, the Namibian partridge aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the Asphodelaceae family. It is native to arid areas of Angola and Namibia.
Hoodia juttae is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitats are rocky areas and cold desert. H. juttae is found around the Little and Great Karas mountains. It is threatened by collection. The plant was discovered by Jutta Dinter, the wife of botanist, Kurt Dinter in 1913. The scientific name refers to Jutta.
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word succulent comes from the Latin word sucus, meaning "juice" or "sap".
AnacampserosL. is a genus comprising about a hundred species of small perennial succulent plants native to Southern Africa, Ethiopia and Latin America. The botanical name Anacampseros is an ancient one for herbs supposed to restore lost love.
Lithops viridis is a species of plant in the family Aizoaceae.
Lithops salicola is a species of perennial plant in the family Aizoaceae, often called living stones, because of its resemblance to round grey pebbles.
Lithops karasmontana, is a species of flowering plant in the ice plant family Aizoaceae, native to Namibia and South Africa.
Lapidaria is a monotypic genus of dwarf succulent plants in the family Aizoaceae. The only species it contains is Lapidaria margaretae, also known as the Karoo rose.
Dinteranthus is a genus of plants in the family Aizoaceae. It occurs in the arid northwestern parts of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa and the south-eastern parts of Namibia.
Lithops amicorum is a small succulent plant with white flowers, one of the smallest in the genus. It was named for the group of four friends who discovered it. It was collected by Desmond T. and Naureen A. Cole on 3 May 2004. After recent molecular analysis it was recombined to be a subspecies of Lithops karasmontana rather than its own species.
Leaf window, also known as epidermal window, and fenestration, is a specialized leaf structure consisting of a translucent area through which light can enter the interior surfaces of the leaf where photosynthesis can occur. The translucent structure may include epidermal tissue, and in some succulent plants it consists of several cell layers of parenchyma, which may also function as water-storage tissue. It can appear as a large continuous patch, a variegated or reticulated region, or as numerous small spots. It is found in some succulent plants native to arid climates, allowing much of the plant to remain beneath the soil surface where it is protected from desiccation by winds and heat while optimizing light absorption. Many species featuring leaf windows are native to Southern Africa.
Astroloba spiralis is a small succulent plant of the Astroloba genus, endemic to the southern Karoo regions of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces, South Africa.
Lithops divergens is a succulent plant species of the genus Lithops under the family Aizoaceae. It grows around the regions of Southern Africa and it able to withstand intense climatic changes due to its resilience as a succulent. The average annual rainfall for its natural environment is less than 150mm, occurring primarily in winter which is unusual for a Lithops.
Lithops dinteri is a species of the genus Lithops of the family Aizoaceae. It is a succulent plant native to the desert climate of Southern Africa, where is receives an average yearly rainfall of 464mm. The succulent plant is named after Mortiz Kurt Dinter, a German botanist of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a collector of exotic succulents and his collection numbered around 8,400 pressed specimens.
Lithops gracilidelineata is a species of the genus Lithops under the family Aizoaceae. The succulent plant lives in the southern region of Africa, and receives its name from the Latin words gracili and linea, combining to form the translation of "fine lined."
Lithops julii is a species of succulent plant of the genus Lithops under the family Aizoaceae. It is native to Southern Africa, and was first collected by Professor Kurt Dinter, a German botanist, and named after his friend, Dr. Julius Derenberg.
Lithops naureeniae is a species of pebble plant (Lithops). It is classified under the family Aizoaceae. The succulent is native to Southern Africa and has the ability to withstand the desert climate in which it lives. L. naureeniae was identified in 1980 by Desmond Cole, who became involved in Lithops research in 1947, from a specimen provided to him by Bruce Bayer, curator of the Karoo Botanic Garden, having been collected by Peter V. Bruyns in Namaqualand. It is named after Cole's wife, Naureen Cole. Cole wrote:
I therefore have pleasure in dedicating it to the person who, during the last fifteen years, directly and indirectly, has contributed more to research on and knowledge of the genus Lithops than any other—my wife, Naureen
