Why Do Some Desert Plants Look Like Pebbles?

More fun facts

• Living stones, called Lithops, are tiny succulent plants with two thick, fleshy leaves that look like stones.
• The name Lithops comes from the Greek word lithos, meaning stone.
• The two leaves join at soil level and taper down into a root shaped like a carrot.
• The flat top of each leaf works like a window that lets light into the plant so it can make food.
• A single flower pops up through the groove between the two leaves, usually white or yellow.
• Lithops grow mainly in the drier western parts of South Africa, and one kind grows on top of the Brandberg mountain in Namibia.
• In nature, their flowers open when it rains, and raindrops help spread the seeds.

Sources: pza.sanbi.org