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Lithops optica 10 km S Bakers Bay
Beautiful form
These plants so closely resemble the
surrounding pebbles of their natural habitat, either in coloration or
shape or both. This
camouflage allows them to escape detection and is a very effective
strategy for escaping
predation. |
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Description: Consists of an oblong obconical almost
club-shaped leaf pair up to 20 mm long. The leaf pairs are often
unequal, rounded-truncate at their tops and up to 15 x 12 mm in diameter
with a smooth texture, deeply fissured and whitish grey to grey green in
colour. The bodies become wrinkled during the dry summers. They divide
with age forming small clusters of up to 10 bodies. It is possible to
estimate the age of a Lithops optica colony by counting the dried-up
shells of old bodies, and specimens have been found with ages estimated
at 50 to 95 years or more. The flowers are white, sometimes with pink
tips, 12-20 mm in diameter and appear during autumn.
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Family: Mesebrianthemaceae (Aizoaceae)
Habitat: Lithops optica is
endemic to the Lüderitz district of the southern Namib
Desert where it grows on the coastal plains. Its habitat is very
sandy and it is often found growing among rocks and gravel where it
is very difficult to spot. Its
climate is cool due to the cold Atlantic Ocean and frequent
fog, and
rainfall is mainly during the
winter, ranging between 20-50 mm per annum.
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