Dinteranthus
Dinteranthus is a small genus of chalky-white, stone-mimicking mesembs (family Aizoaceae) from the arid interior of South Africa and southern Namibia. Closely allied to the famous Lithops "living stones," Dinteranthus plants are extreme mimics of the quartz and pale rock among which they grow, but they can be told apart by a couple of habits: most sit more openly on the soil surface rather than retracting flush into the ground the way Lithops does, and their bodies tend to be more regular and symmetrical, often near-globular and startlingly chalky-white. They are sometimes sold under the common names living stones or stone plants.
Description
Dinteranthus are dwarf, virtually stemless succulents. Each plant consists of one to a few pairs of thick, fused leaves that form a rounded, often almost spherical or fig-shaped body, typically only a couple of centimetres across. The leaf surfaces are smooth and chalky, ranging from bone-white and pale grey to soft pink or greenish, frequently dotted or streaked with fine reddish markings that mimic the surrounding stone.
Unlike Lithops, which usually sits flush with the soil and carries a single leaf pair, most Dinteranthus sit more openly on the surface and may carry more than one pair of leaves at a time, giving the plants a tidy, symmetrical outline. A single daisy-like flower — usually bright yellow, sometimes with paler or reddish tips — emerges from the central fissure in late summer or autumn, opening over several successive days. As with other mesembs, each year the plant replaces its leaf pair, the old bodies drying up as a fresh pair grows from within.
Distribution
The genus is native to the arid, largely summer-rainfall interior of the northwestern Northern Cape in South Africa and adjacent parts of southern Namibia. Plants grow in exposed, sun-baked flats and slopes, rooted in quartz gravel and other pale mineral soils where their coloration renders them nearly invisible among the surrounding pebbles. Rainfall is low and erratic, and the plants endure long dry spells by drawing on the water stored in their swollen leaf bodies.
Notable species
- Dinteranthus vanzylii — perhaps the most widely grown, with pinkish to grey bodies boldly patterned in red, closely resembling a patterned Lithops.
- Dinteranthus wilmotianus — pale grey-white bodies, often minutely dotted, forming small clumps with age.
- Dinteranthus microspermus — very white, near-spherical bodies; the subspecies puberulus has a faintly velvety surface.
- Dinteranthus inexpectatus — a smaller, strongly stone-like species with a compact, symmetrical body.
- Dinteranthus pole-evansii — among the largest and whitest, with smooth, chalky, near-globular bodies.
Cultivation
Dinteranthus are grown much like Lithops but are widely regarded as a touch more demanding, being especially intolerant of excess moisture. Give them the brightest light you can — a sunny windowsill or greenhouse — as they colour up and stay compact only in strong sun; too little light causes the bodies to swell, dull and split. Use a very lean, gritty, almost purely mineral mix in a deep pot with sharp drainage.
Watering is the crux. Water sparingly and only during active growth, letting the soil dry out completely between drinks, and keep the plants bone dry while they are renewing their leaf pair and through the cold of their winter rest. When the old pair is drying and a new one is forming, withhold water entirely and let the plant draw on the withering leaves. Protect from frost; they tolerate heat well but resent stagnant, humid air. See Watering and Repotting for general technique.
Propagation
Seed is by far the usual method. Sow the fine seed on the surface of a mineral mix, keep it lightly humid and warm, and expect slow but steady growth; seedlings are tiny and need careful, restrained watering in their first seasons. Some clumping species can occasionally be divided, but the genus is grown overwhelmingly from seed. See Propagation — seed for a full walkthrough.
Hobby and cultivar notes
Dinteranthus are prized by mesemb and "living stone" collectors for their extreme whiteness and near-perfect symmetry, and they are often grown alongside Lithops, Conophytum and other stone-mimicking Aizoaceae. Named cultivars are far fewer than in Lithops; interest instead centres on well-grown, tightly kept individual plants and on the natural colour forms of species such as D. vanzylii. Because they are unforgiving of overwatering, they are usually recommended for growers who have already had success with Lithops rather than as a first mesemb.
See also
- Lithops — the closely related "living stones"
- Aizoaceae — the mesemb family
- Soil and potting mix · Watering · Propagation — seed · Repotting · Pests and diseases