Common name: Living Stones, Stone Plant
Family: Aizoaceae, Mesembryanthemum
Height x width: ½-1" x 1-3"
Growth rate: slow
Foliage: ovoid or cone-shaped bodies of a pair of fleshy leaves with a central fissure between; a panel of dots or patches on the upper surface
Flowers: usually solitary, daisy-like 1" across from each fissure; color varies with species
Light: full sun
Temperature: cool to warm
Watering: allow to dry between watering
Fertility: low and only for mature plants in active growth
Humidity: low, dry
Soil: well-drained as cactus
Pests and Problems: overwatering causes leaf bodies to burst, soft rot, mealybugs
Growth habit, uses: exotic small pot, desert garden, dry terrarium
Other interest: common name from resemblance to rocks; native to semi-deserts of Namibia and South Africa; name from the Greek lithos meaning stone, and opsis meaning appearance
Other culture: keep bodies above soil surface even though in native habitats they grow level with the surface; extensive root systems require larger pots than size seems to dictate
Propagation: seed, offsets
Species:
Of the over 40 species, the following may be most commonly encountered.
| Species | leaf bodies | upper panel | flowers |
| aucampiae | reddish, sandy brown | dark marked | yellow |
| dinteri | reddish, grayish | 5-15 red spots | yellow |
| dorotheae | beige | olive, red marked | yellow |
| insularis | greenish brown | dark green, marked | yellow |
| julii | gray, red tint | brown, marked, dots | white |
| karasmontana | pale red-brown | dark markings | white |
| lesliei | grayish to beige | olive, dotted | yellow |
| marmorata | gray to beige | grayish green lined | shite, scented |
| optica | grayish | greenish white | white, pink tips |
| pulmonuncula | brownish gray | lined, dotted greenish | golden |
| schwantesii | variable | bluish, dotted | yellow |
| turbiniformis | brown, tan, gray | brown | light yellow |
| vallis-mariae | yellowish to bluish white | gray lined, dots | yellow |
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