Lithops herrei plant bodies sunken

These Lithops herrei leaf pairs are well sunken in the ground, accessing the sun without unnecessary exposure to elements, as well as the usual and unusual other risks of desert land. They may rise a little above ground level on some plants, as they grow or as the sand is blown.

Leaf-pair colours range from grey, yellowish grey, whitish, dull green or bluish and even sometimes pink. The windows on top may be wide open or restricted to randomly shaped vein-like channels, varying in width and in colour, from dull green and blue-green to yellowish or brown. The windows filter the light entering the leaf bodies for photosynthesis in skin cells reached by light inside the bodies.

Ghostly fruit capsule leftovers stand like skeletons beside the young leaf bodies, as well as dry leaf skin remains that earlier sheltered the developing new leaves, the seasonal successors (Frandsen, 2017; Williamson, 2010; iNaturalist; https://www.livingdesertplants.co.za).