07/11/2024
STONE FLOWERS OF THE POLOKWANE NATURE RESERVE
One of the greatest treasures of the Polokwane Nature Reserve is the Stone Flowers, or Lithops! This particular species is Lithops lesliei, which is a widespread and variable species, occurring in grassland and savannah in the northern parts of South Africa, and also in Botswana.
Dr. Living Stone, I Presume
These plants are very hard – and very rewarding – to find in the wild. They mimic round stones! They always grow amidst stones and pebbles that are very similar in size, shape and colour to themselves. The colony in the local game reserve is very hard to discover: not only are the plants hidden between the stones, they are also concealed by the grass growing around them. These particular ones also grow in the midst of a kind of spikemoss (Selaginella)that dries out completely in the winter and ‘resurrects’ in spring and summer; the dry bodies of these during their dormant period lie over the lithops, which at that time are shrunken, concealing them even more. So, to find the lithops, you must spend a lot of time stooped over, looking between the clumps of grass, inspecting the ground closely. After around the 500th pebble you’ll discover, with delight, the first actual lithops! The name ‘Lithops’ means ‘Stone Face’; this particular species was named after plant collector Thomas Nicholas Leslie. There are currently about 37 species of Lithops recognized, and over 145 varieties.
