!0 the •o:ronnd, so thpt their tor,s ere nerrl^'', or quite, level with 

 the surfs ce. Sech relent or grov'th consisting of an ohconic or 

 slightly coni^ressed subcylindric flesh^r body, which, v/hen edult, 

 has a transverse fissure all across the tor, dividing it into 

 two short contigi;ous (or under cultivation soruetines g&ping) 

 lobes, truncate pnd fist or slightly convex at the to'^; in the 

 Juvenile st?g?s it o-^ten hps only a small centrcl orifice exactly 

 PS in Conophytum. Fiov^er usuallj'' solitery, rarely 2-3 frora the same 

 -rovrth, .iust exserted from the centre of the fissure, ^elyx not 

 menbrenous, partly or entirely exserted from the '"^issure, conipressec^ 

 not produced into e tube above its union with the ovsry, 4-7 

 usually 5-6) -lobes. Fete Is many, free to the base. Stamens numer- 

 ous, collected into an erect column or cone, "^t 'le short or al- 

 most absent; stigmas ' 4'^7, filiform. Oypry inferior, 4-7-celled; 

 '-^lacenteH on the outer v.^all or floor of the cells, '-'apsule 

 smell, with 4-7 velves and cells; eech velve with one stout cen- 

 tral expand! np--keel, or the xpanding-keels contiguous for most 

 of their lengths with the tips diverging, and with a brosd membra- 

 nous wing on eech margin; cells open, without eel"! -wings or a 

 tubercle. Seeds minute, sub-globose or slightly compressed-ovoid, 

 ith a short niT>r;el at one end. --N.E.Br, in Ihe *^ardener*s Chron- 

 icle, 19^.2, V. IXXI, p. /4. 



Species 19 at present known, native of Qsm.rraland, Gre' :, .... 

 little Famaqualand, Prieska, Griqualand ^'''^est, Transvaal, and the 

 Karoo r^^P'ion ■^rom ^aingsburg division to ^'^illowmore Division. 

 ''^^e t3Te of the genus is L. Lesliei, ^^S.Br, 



T^.e name is derived from the Greek, lithos, a stone, and ops, 

 ffce or eT^neprance, in allusion to the resemblance of these plants 

 to the stones among which they grow, 



Fig. 40 is a diagram showing the floral structure of this 

 "■enus . 



Fig. 40.-- Lithors turbinifornls . 



(^iagraraatic section of flower). 



The references to and descriptions of species that follow 

 are additional to t' ose already given in The Ggrdeners' Chronicle, 

 1922, vol. LTTI, pp. 55,65 ^"^^ po, s^nd >>rin~ ^-^^^ account of 

 this genus uri-to-date. 



The members of this genus are greet favourites with those 

 '•'10 cultivate succulent pants, not only account of their neat appearance 



howy flowers and interesting character, but aso on account of the 

 remarkable wa"^*" in v/hich they imitate the stones and soil among 

 v^hich they grov;. It appears to me, hov>'ever, that it is not cer- 

 tain that v:e have arrived at a correct solution v/hen v/e state' that 

 this mimicry of their surroundings is a real protection to the pla- 

 nt. It may be that it is; at the sane time, it has recently occur- 

 red to me that as the eyesight of animals and birds is so much kee- 

 ner then that of mankind, as the botanical collector is able to 

 -^ind these rlants "'hen he searches for them, why may not the hungry 



nimal or bird v/it^ their much keener eyesight be able to do so 

 ■^00*? 'Tiev vrould surely sometLmes find one or t^^o, and the exper- 

 ience thus gained would teah then how to look for others, ^t 

 least, that is hov; it anpears to me. -^-nd, indeed, -'erger, in his 



ork on resembryanthemum,- p.ll , records that Winter has mentioned 



