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Ophthalmophyllum (Conophytum) triebneri (In backlight)
Glass-like, but soft to the touch, strongly windowed and
transparent at the tip. Surface grey-purple brownish-purple tinged
bright pink with many dots around border,
This species is however variable in shape and colour.
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Description: Tiny groundcover succulent
similar to a Lithops but
with shiny big spotted purple-grey eyes. Good clumper.
Bodies (Leaves): Up to 20-25 mm large, 8 mm tall (more in
cultivation)
, soft to the touch,
nice, very smooth, glabrous,
grey-purple brownish-purple
with many aquamarine dots around border, glassy and strongly windowed
transparent at the tips.. Surface tinged bright pink.
This species is however variable in shape and colour.
Flowers: Usually pinkish but also reddish mauve or pure white, up
to 3 cm in diameter.
Blooming season: Autumn.
Fruit: 5-6 locular.
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Cultivation: It is
relatively easy to grow. These plants grow on winter rain and head for
summer dormancy. The
growing season in northern hemisphere is from September to March.
They require little water; otherwise its
epidermis breaks (resulting in unsightly scars). Water minimally in
summer, (only occasional misting when the
plant starts shrivelling), but it will generally grow even in summer if
given water. Water regularly in winter after the previous year's leaves
have dried up. Requires good drainage. It
enjoy some shade (avoid direct sun as it grows wild among rocks and
under the shade of other plants) and in summer it need to be kept in a
cool area. Hardy to -2°C.
Ensure a very good ventilation. Avoid to repot frequently. This plant
may stay in the same pot for many years. Plants grown in larger
containers have frequently relatively poor flowers. It might improve
when the plants are given their own, small individual pots.
Conophytum/Ophtalmophyllum:
These plants forms a group within the large genus
Conophytum
and for a long time they was considered a separate genus,
Ophthalmophyllum. Generally the Ophthalmophyllums look like they
are formed from glass, ranging in colour from coke-bottle green to
brown, to quite reddish. Some of these plants remain solitary, others
clump quite readily; some are touchy in cultivation, some grow easily.
They all resemble each other and are easy to recognize as a group. They
include species such as
C. friedrichiae,
C. limpidum, the slightly fuzzy C. pubescens, and the
clump forming C. praesectum.
Propagation: It can be
reproduced both by cuttings and seeds. Take the cutting from a grown-up
mother plant. Each
cutting must contain one or more heads along with
a fraction of root.
Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and
cultivars of Ophthalmophyllum (Conophytum) friedrichiae.
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Family:
Mesebrianthemaceae
(Aizoaceae)
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Ophthalmophyllum triebneri Schwantes ex H.
Jacobsen
In: Succ. Pl. 229 (1935)
Accepted
Scientific name:
Conophytum friedrichiae (Dinter) Schwantes (1928)
Subgenus:
Derembergia – Ophtalmophyllum
Section:
OPHTHALMOPHYLLUM
Origin:
Northern Cape Province, Southern Namibia
Habitat: It grows on quartz
slopes and on sheer faces, usually half shaded. Its soil-embedded,
subterranean growth form reduces the need for chemical defences against
herbivores.
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Synonyms:
At growth resumption in autumn they are avid of water
and enlarge quickly,
but require little water; otherwise their epidermis breaks (resulting in
unsightly but innocuous scars). Often in cultivation the greater part of
the plant shows this crevices.
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In backlighting to show the transparent windowed
body.
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Cultivation
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