Origin and Habitat:Namaqualand, Vanrhynsdorp, Western Cape, South Africa. Habitat:Grows on calcrete or quartzite patches in full sun.
Common Names include: ENGLISH:Eye-Leaves
Description:Solitary or sparsely branched succulent that forms tiny mounds of radically unequal bodies.
Body (paired leaves):Leaves up to 30 mm long, 15 mm in diameter, soft to the touch, pulpy, brownish-green, paler towards the margins, half-fused, apex convex to truncate yellowish-green to brown, very finely papillate (sometimes slightly warty), squarish from above, windowed translucent and shining at the apex, fissure zone broad. Flower:Narrow, occasionally paired, petals white, pink or tan pink Fruit:The fruit is a 6-locular capsule. Remarks:This species is best known in cultivation asOphthalmophyllum australeSN|1215]]SN|1215]].
Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Conophytum caroli group
Conophytum caroliLavis: bodies up to 30 mm long, 15 mm in diameter, soft to the touch windowed translucent and shining at the apex. Distributiom: Namaqualand, Vanrhynsdorp, Western Cape.
Ophthalmophyllum australeL. Bolus: This taxon is indubitably the same thing asConophytum caroliLavis.
Notes:Conophytum/OphtalmophyllumThese plants forms a group within the large genusConophytumand for a long time they was considered a separate genus,Ophthalmophyllum. Generally the Ophthalmophyllums look like they are formed from glass, ranging in colour from coke-bottle green to brown, to quite reddish. Some of these plants remain solitary, others clump quite readily; some are touchy in cultivation, some grow easily. They all resemble each other and are easy to recognize as a group. They include species such asConophytum friedrichiaeSN|22668]]SN|14643]],Conophytum limpidumSN|22079]]SN|22079]], the slightly fuzzyConophytum pubescensSN|14643]]SN|22668]], and the clump formingConophytum praesectum.
