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Lithops hallii var. ochracea C059
10 km NW of Upington, South Africa
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Lithops hallii ochracea C59
This is a beautiful plant with a very striking brick-red colour.
 

Description: L. hallii is one of the most variable white flowering species with broadly kidney shaped leaves pairs. This species shows shades of reddish-brown with regular fine to broad interlacing network of channels.
Flowers: The blooms are white 20-45 mm in diameter.
Fruits: 6-loculed capsules.
Seeds: light yellow-brown to yellow-brown, smooth to rugose.

Lithops hallii comprises several more or less intergrading and distinct variety:

  • var. hallii H.W.De Boer 1957. Cole numbers: C022, C045, C050, C052, C090, C094, C119, C158, C174, C176, C318, C375; (Brown Form) C135, C136; (Syn: L. salicola reticulata) C087
    Truncate in outline, top surface usually flat, medium sized about 20 to 40 mm broad, fissure shallow, 4-7 mm; lobes conjunct. It forms forms small groups with 2-3 (or more) heads.
    Face slightly rugose with fairly distinct margins and relatively uniform and fairly easy to identify for its fine network of channels with mostly small regular islands, windows occluded to open with scattered dots, dashes and hooks in the windows and channels. Margins often toothed and clearly distinct. Shoulders, margins, islands greyish, pastel to pale brow with shadows of yellow, pink, blue, green, orange or reddish brown.
  • var. ochracea (H.W. de Boer) D.T. Cole 1962. Cole numbers: C039, C059, C098, C111, C142A, C303, C372
    The names comes from the Latin for “ochre-coloured” (reddish) for its more red-brown colouration: Profile boat shaped, diameter of the face about 20-30 mm. Margins distinct regular to somewhat dentate sometimes with a few peninsulas. Channels regular more or less broad. Islands regular and small with scattered dots, dashes and hooks, occasionally with some longer lines forming a broken network. Shoulders, m
    argins and islands, milky pink, beige, or orange or pinkish grey. Windows and channels greenish, red-brown, reddish blue, orange-brown, or brownish grey. Rubrications bright to dull blood-red or orange-red.

Cultivars:

  • Lithops halli cv'' Green Soapstone' (1985) C111 The plant is yellowish-green in colour, but is otherwise the same as var. hallii. This nice cultivars derives from only two green specimens found in habita Margins and islands opaque milky greenish-yellow. Windows and channels various shades of opaque dull greenish brown or greyish brown. Shoulders pale greyish green.


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Family: Mesebrianthemaceae (Aizoaceae)

Scientific name:  Lithops hallii var. ochracea (H.W. de Boer) D.T. Cole 1962

Origin Repubblic of South Africa, Cape province
TL: Near Upington, on a low ridge, in quartz (C059).

Habitat:   L. halli v. ochracea grows on a stony soil comprising pegmatite, quartzite, calcrete, jaspillite and quartzs feldspar.  Colours of the backgrounds grey-white, white, pink with some red, brown and black.

Conservation status:   Listed in CITES appendix 2.

Etymology: Named after Harry Hall who collect this plant in April 1956. The species names comes from the Latin "ochra"  for “ochre-coloured” (reddish) for its red-brown colouration.

 

 
 


 

Remarks: Lithops are partly subterranean, with only the clear 'window' in each leaf tip exposed above soil. A type of optical system exists whereby a layer of apical tissue rich in calcium oxalate crystals acts as a filter to intense sunlight before it reaches the thin chlorophyllous layer below. They are also called mimicry plants as they show a striking similarity to their background rocks and are difficult to detect when not in flower. These are the commonly known as pebble plants or living stones; each species is associated with one particular type of rock formation and occurs nowhere else. Its soil-embedded, subterranean growth form also reduces the need for chemical defences against herbivores.

Cultivation: Need an open mineral, fast draining mix and the maximum amount of light you are able to give them. The basic cultivation routine is: Stop watering after flowering. Start watering after the old leaves completely dry. (Usually late March or Early April) Water freely during the growing season, soak the compost fully but allow it to dry out between waterings, no water when cold. Some growers fertilize frequently, some hardly ever. Keep them dry during the winter. Nearly all problems occur as a result of overwatering and poor ventilation especially when weather conditions are dull and cool or very humid. This plant is best for a well lit area (Bright shade to full sun). But don't be afraid even the best growers have plants that mysteriously dry up, or leave during the night.

Note:
After flowering in the autumn and extending through winter season the plant doesn’t need watering, but they will still be growing, the new bodies will be increasing in size extracting water from the outer succulent leaves, allowing them to shrivel away.  In fact the plant in this time extracts water and nutrient stored in the outer succulent leaves, allowing them to dehydrate relocating the water  to the rest of the plant and to the new leaves that form during this period until the old leaves are reduced to nothing more than "thin papery shells".

Improvement of lithops characteristics: Some growers (but not all!!) think it is very intriguing to reinforce any characteristic of cultivated Lithops of by crossing two similar selected plants and then back-crossing with the mother plant. This way we can eventually get some interesting results. Of course, many of the nicest Lithops we grow in cultivation have already been selected over time. However many Lithops are already nice plants which can’t really be improved, on the other hand one could try to improve the colour or the markings etc. Now if we have two particular plants we may attempt to breed between them and can maybe get a whole improved population and then select some better offspring to continue the selection.

Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and cultivars of Lithops Hallii

Photo gallery: Alphabetical listing of Cactus and Succulent pictures published in this site.

Photo gallery LITHOPS

Home | E-mail | Plant files | Mail Sale Catalogue | Links | Information | Search

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Succulents. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.