Lithops is
a scientific name to a remarkable plant discovered by a group of scientists headed
by the botanist William Burchell in South Africa in 1811. Firstly, they picked
up a stone found to their surprise it was a plant. They called that plant stone
faces or stone plants. This mimicry of the natural environment is really best
described as a camouflage.
Lithops are
succulent plants adapted to drought-stressed environments. A majority of the
leaf is held underground. As a result, these plants have some adaptations to
photosynthesize underground. These plants are easily mistaken by herbivores for
stones and thus overlooked.
Look that video which shows these plants:
References
Book:
Scott, P. 2008, Physiology and Behaviour of plants, 1st edn, Wiley: USA
Video:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofmJaZZS0WM, viewed 25 April 2014
Stone plants are among my favourite of all plants :) What adaptations do these plants have that allow them to photosynthesise underground?
ReplyDeleteok, I'll try summarise that for you These plants have a small upper visible surface above ground. That surface is pigmented and acts as a window for the rest of leaf. The centre of the leaf is made up of succulent cells that are crystal clear. These cells receive light. So, the light is scattered through these cells onto the photosynthetic cells. This scattering permits more of the photosynthetic cells to use light from a range of angles. That was a little bit difficult to explain so I used some (or a lot of) words from Scott, P. 2008, Physiology and Behaviour of plants, 1st edn, Wiley: USA.
DeleteTruly amazing! What sort of environment are they found?
ReplyDeleteHi Lola! These plants are adapted to drought-stressed environments such as deserts. They are found in South Africa!
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