This Plant Has Evolved to Look Like Stones

Meet the stone plants.

Lithops are small, interesting plants in the ice plant family Aizoaceae that look like stones. Although they are native to southern Africa, they are quite easy to grow indoors, so you can have your own stone plant, or plant stone for that matter, easily!

The stone-looking plant was first documented by William John Burchell in 1811 during a botanical expedition to southern Africa, where he stumbled upon a strange looking brown stone with a fissure across the surface. On closer inspection, the strange-looking stone turned out to be a plant!

Native to Namibia and South Africa, lithops are in the family Mesembryanthemaceae (Aizoaceae) and were named for their stone-like appearance using the Ancient Greek words λίθος (líthos) ‘stone’ and ὄψ (óps) ‘face’.

These plants have evolved to blend in perfectly with their surroundings to avoid being eaten, resembling the sand and stones around them. This makes them quite difficult to spot, even for those with a trained eye and years of experience.

Except when they glow up like this.

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Lithops lit up.

Sources: 1, 2, 3