TOES BABY
Frithia pulchra
Among the succulent plants in the Nursery of Succulent Plants the Frithia pulchra is particularly interesting; it is a small Aizoaceaetype, native of South Africa which belongs to the same family of the stone plant (Lithops sp.). Locals call it Toes Baby due to its tubular shape of its leaves. In nature it leaves semi-submerged by the sand: only its semi-transparent ends emerge from the ground. This strategy is implemented to reduce water steam during draught and it is combined with the peculiar appearance of the leaves which look flat and translucent at the top. Through this sort of window light can penetrate the leaves even under the sand. Its wonderful violet flowers with a white heart open in warmest time of the day and last for a few days. This plant was first described in 1925 and is named after its discoverer; Frank Frith, while pulchra comes from the Latin and means ‘beautiful’. In South Africa this plant is classified as vulnerable in the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
