Tag Archives: namibia

Lithops: The Living Gems of the Desert

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With Peter Beiersdorfer
Tuesday, September 21, 2021 – 7:00 pm Pacific Time

NOTE: This month’s meeting will be broadcast LIVE from the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Feel free to attend in person if you are in the area, or watch on Zoom or Facebook Live.

 

IMPORTANT COVID REQUIREMENTS from the venue/city

  • Proof of Vaccination required for entry. This can be your card, or a picture of your card on your phone.
  • Masks must be worn at all times, unless you are actively eating or drinking
  • We won’t have a snack table. Bring your own drinks or snacks

Program Description

Lithops are among the most varied and colorful minitiature succulents. In nature, these plants thrive in sunny, mostly arid locations in South Africa,  Namibia, and Botswana, and they can be successfully cultivated when grown  with a few basic rules. During the past three years Peter Beiersdorfer and his husband Jaan  have made a targeted effort to locate and photograph these plants in the wild  during their trips to South Africa and Namibia. As Peter will attest in his talk,  searching for and finding a given species has been a highly rewarding  adventure, and he will reveal his secrets to finding these “living gems” in the  wild. By searching out specifc plants that have been photographed before at  least a decade ago, Peter will demonstrate that many wild plants must be very  old. Peter will also show numerous photographs of Lithops in cultivation,  including many brightly colored cultivars. He will discuss how he keeps these  wonderful plants thriving here in Northern California, in the hope that those who  never had or no longer have these precious gems in their collection will give them a(nother) try.

Peter is a member of several succulent clubs in Northern California and typically contributes plants to more than half a dozen shows and sales each year. He has been the sale chair of the Cactus and Succulent Society of San Jose for more than a decade. He has given numerous presentations on cacti and succulents based on his travels to the Caribean, South America, Europe and the Canary Islands, and southern Africa. He grew his ‘rst Lithops from seed in 2007. Since then he has expanded his collection to include all 37+ species of Lithops and most of the 95+ Lithops taxa (which include subspecies and varieties) as well as many cultivars.

 

Bring Lithops for show-and-tell.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84730277807?pwd=MnlZY1dtT0RwTjhodHZ3QjR6N3NuZz09
Meeting ID: 875 9292 0509
Password: sfscs

Meeting starts at 7pm (California time) for mingling and announcements.
Lecture starts at 7:30pm

We will simulcast on Facebook live on our page at: http://fb.me.sfsucculent

Upcoming Events

MesembsVirtually on October 11 at 11am. More info coming soon.