What a difference a rain makes
On 9 May 2018 we visited the Lithops francisci colony at Halenberg in the Namib desert. This was towards the end of the sixth year of drought in the area and only a few millimetres of rain had fallen during the 2017/18 season before the visit. Interestingly, the plant in the photograph has one head flowering in ‘desperation’. It eventually rained at the Halenberg on 18 May and when we visited the colony again on 29 May the same plant was photographed being very turgid. What a difference a rain makes!!
Other plants in the Namib desert also reacted to the rain and broke out of their hiding places under the soil as in these Lithops ruschiorum plants near Henties Bay.