Lithops marmorata

Lithops marmorata at the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden appears dry in the greenhouse in February, as one would expect of the plant in habitat at the end of summer.

The wrinkled skin on the sides of the leaf-pairs is beige, the darker windows on top dull brownish and translucent with variously shaped island blotches scattered in it, pale as the lateral skins.

The six-loculed dry fruit from last season’s flower seems to have released seeds already. The white flowers appear late in summer or early in autumn.

The species distribution is in the Northern Cape between Port Nolloth, Vioolsdrif, Steinkopf and Pofadder.

The habitat is arid, stony terrain, the plants often growing among pebbles of gneiss, calcrete and more. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Grenier, 2019; Frandsen, 2017; Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).