''Lithops optica'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

in the family

Aizoaceae The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and Ne ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Name and description

The name "optica" means "eye-like" and refers to the rounded windows at the top of the leaves. In habitat, these two leaves emerge just above the surface of the ground. The well-known and widely cultivated "rubra" variety is a bright purple/red colour. While most specimens of Lithops optica do not have this colour, the "rubra" variety is by far the most commonly cultivated.

Distribution

This species occurs in the coastal areas around

Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includ ...

. This is a very arid "mist-belt" area, with winter rainfall but extremely dry conditions. It is therefore one of the few species of ''

Lithops ''Lithops'' is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words () 'stone' and () 'face', referring to the stone-like appearanc ...

'' which is adapted to a winter rainfall climate. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is sandy soil in rocky areas. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Cultivation

Like all ''Lithops'', it requires extremely well-drained soil. Like all ''Lithops'' it also grows in annual cycles, as the leaf-pairs flower, and then each produces a new leaf-pair that replaces the old one (which shrivels away). The principal rule of watering is that ''Lithops'' should be kept dry from when they finish flowering, up until the old leaf-pairs are fully replaced.

References

optica Endemic flora of Namibia Near threatened plants Near threatened biota of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by N. E. Brown Taxa named by Rudolf Marloth {{Aizoaceae-stub