Conophytum Cultivation in New England
Conophytum ernstii from Sandberg,
N. Cape, South Africa (EVJ8512),
in cultivation at the University of Connecticut.
Leaf pairs ('bodies') are about 2cm in diameter.
Background - Conophytum is a genus of succulent plants
native to the winter-rainfall deserts of South Africa and Namibia.
Commonly referred to as "stone plants" because of their
cryptically mineral-esque appearance, conophytums require rather
specialized conditions in order to thrive in cultivation.
I currently grow all of my conophytums and other "mesembs" in a
greenhouse at the University of Connecticut (north-east U.S.). The local
climate is warm and humid in the summer, cold in winter, and wet year
round - not ideal for succulents. But I get pretty good results with
the methods detailed below...
This page was written by Matthew Opel; who may be reached
at Matthew dot opel at uconn dot edu.
Do not copy any of it without the author's
permission (obviously).
Conophytum phoeniceum
SH1212, S. Umdaus.
SEM of epidermal trichomes and a stomate, 625X mag.
(Fig. 67 in
chapter 1 of the ol' PhD dissertation...)