Lithops

Plants can be strange and wonderful! Meet the Lithops genus of southern Africa. They are native to Namibia and South Africa. Their survival adaptation is to look like the surrounding rocks and are sometimes called living stones.  Even their plant structure is unusual. What you see are two leaves. The top of the leaf is translucent which allows sunlight to enter and photosynthesis to occur. From between these two leaves, the flower is formed and rises above the leaves. The next set of leaves come from between these leaves. 

The first discovery of this plant was in 1811 in South Africa when the botanist picked up a “curiously shaped pebble”.

During drought conditions in their native habitat the leaves will shrink to just under the soil. Water sparingly in the summer and rarely in winter. Give it five to six hours of sunlight in well-drained soil.