Lithops herrei

Lithops herrei is a dwarf leaf succulent reaching 2 cm to 3 cm in height. It grows leaf-pairs with tops just above ground-level in branched clumps that in old plants may consist of up to forty pairs or plant bodies. There are usually fewer than ten pairs in most plants seen.

The species distribution is in the far north of Namaqualand, part of the Richtersveld in the Gariep River Valley, also on the Namibian side of the River.

The habitat is desert and near-desert, the land here exposed to temperature extremes, low rainfall only in winter, and heavy coastal fog. The soil is based on quartzite, rocky schist, gneiss and calcrete. The habitat population is deemed vulnerable early in the twenty first century, due to plant raiding, mining and habitat degradation (Frandsen, 2017; Williamson, 2010; iNaturalist; https://www.livingdesertplants.co.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).