A mystery

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Astro
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A mystery

Post by Astro »

In an effort to save space, I usually sow two species per 2" pot. I try and pair them up so their growing requirements are similar, but their appearance is distinct enough that I avoid any confusion. However, in the past I have been a bit overconfident in my ability to tell species apart when it's time to pot them on.

So here's an example where I paired up L. gracilidelineata and L. pseudotruncatella "farinosa" (I will not be repeating that mistake). They all ended up looking pretty much the same for the longest time, and even when the time came to pot them on the second time (they're 3 or 4 years old now) I wasn't sure which was which. Two are getting a flower now, so maybe those are gracilidelineata (coinciding with some other gracs). And the one plant on the right in the middle row looks somewhat different from the others (leaf shape and lines), so maybe that's a pseudotruncatella?

All these maybes and possiblys don't inspire a lot of confidence in me to put a label on any of these plants. Any input on a more robust way to lift the confusion and tell gracilidelineata apart from pseudotruncatella?
Gracilidelineata and pseudotruncatella "farinosa", but who's who?
Gracilidelineata and pseudotruncatella "farinosa", but who's who?
Gracilidelineata and pseudotruncatella "farinosa", but who's who?
Gracilidelineata and pseudotruncatella "farinosa", but who's who?
RICHAUD
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Re: A mystery

Post by RICHAUD »

the 2 at the top right could be pseudotruncatella the other gracidelineata ??
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Tina
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Re: A mystery

Post by Tina »

Haha rather you than me, I do it with cactus sometimes and it's a bit easier after the blob stage but with lithops I would have no chance.
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iann
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Re: A mystery

Post by iann »

What a pickle! You couldn't have picked two better plants to mix. Have you considered that they might all be the same?

The flowers on those two should tell for sure. L. gracilidelineata has small flowers with a prominent boss of stamens and short stiff petals, very distinctive especially when they first open. L. pseudotruncatella has much larger flowers with long petals. The capsules are also different.

The other differences are much more subtle. L. gracildelineata has more delicate finer indented lines, very rarely any windowing. L. pseudotruncatella is much smoother, but ssp dendritica has indented lines, coarser than L. gracilidelineata and usually darker/redder. Ssp dendritica still tends to have a more polished appearance than L. gracilidelienata and often has slight windowing, either around the lines or a more general translucent area. The colours tend to be different, L. gracilidelineata more whitish or yellow-brownish (weak tea or curry) while ssp dendritica tends to reddish but "Farinosa" often very pale. The shape is similar, I find ssp dendritica tends to be less truncate (ie. a more domed top) especially when well watered, L. gracilidelineata very truncate, looking brainy and wrinkled if it puffs up.

I wouldn't want to make any hard pronouncements about your plants. Ironically they would have been much easier to ID when they were smaller, L. pseudotruncatella starts life with a very shirt fissure and takes several years for it to reach right across the leaves. Old photos might show the difference. I would pick the middle of the top row as the most obvious L. gracilidelineata and bottom left as the most obvious L. pseudotruncatella. As usual, seeing them in person makes it easier to pick up on subtle differences in texture, colour, and translucence.
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Astro
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Re: A mystery

Post by Astro »

One year later, and I think the mystery has resolved itself... (hint: there's just one pseudotruncatella among the gracilidelineatas)
IMG_2414.JPG
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AnTTun
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Re: A mystery

Post by AnTTun »

You could have solved your problem a year ago Astro. All you had to do is to give an order: 'all pseudotruncatellas move left, all gracilidelineatas move to the right!!!'.

And voila :)
TTcacti - C&S database software - http://www.ttimpact.hr/anttun/
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iann
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Re: A mystery

Post by iann »

So much for our Lithops identification skills! Amazing the difference a year makes. At least you got one Farinosa.
Cheshire, UK
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