Lithops 'Fred's Redhead'
Lithops 'Fred's Redhead is a selected cultivar of Lithops lesliei, Leslie's living stone, chosen for the vivid deep-red patterning that pools across its cream to buff-coloured tops. It is a prized collector's form, valued for the strong colour contrast between the rusty, rubricated face-markings and the paler window surface, a look that intensifies under bright light.
Care follows the parent species; see Lithops lesliei and the Lithops genus page for full detail.
Description
Like all Lithops, 'Fred's Redhead' is a nearly stemless succulent made up of a single pair of fused, swollen leaves that resemble a split pebble, with a fissure across the top from which new leaves and flowers emerge. What sets this cultivar apart is the face: the flattened top windows are a soft cream to pale tan, overlaid with bold, branching red to reddish-brown markings that can flush deeper and more saturated than in typical L. lesliei. The intensity of the red varies with light, season and the individual plant, and tends to be at its most striking in cooler, brighter growing conditions.
As in the parent species, plants slowly form small clumps of a few heads over many years, and produce yellow, daisy-like flowers from the fissure in autumn.
Cultivation
Grow 'Fred's Redhead' exactly as you would the parent species — see Lithops lesliei for the full routine. In short, it wants a very gritty, fast-draining, mostly mineral mix, the brightest light you can give it short of scorching, and a careful, seasonal approach to watering.
The single most important point is the watering rhythm tied to the leaf cycle: water in the active growing periods of autumn and spring, keep the plant dry through the heat of summer and again through winter, and never water while the old leaf pair is being reabsorbed by the new one. Overwatering — especially at the wrong time of year — is the usual cause of a burst or rotted plant. Strong light is also what keeps the red patterning vivid; in shade the colour fades and the body etiolates and stretches, losing its low, pebble-like form.
Because the vivid colouring is the whole point of this selection, growers generally favour intense light and a lean mix to bring the red out fully.
Propagation
Lithops are raised mainly from seed, and named selections like this are maintained and improved by seed selection rather than by division. Seed is sown onto a fine mineral surface kept warm and humid; see Propagation — seed for a full walkthrough. Established clumps can occasionally be divided when they naturally split into separate heads, though this is slow and less common — see Propagation — offsets for the general approach.
See also
- Lithops lesliei — the parent species
- Lithops — the genus overview
- Soil and potting mix · Watering · Propagation — seed · Pests and diseases