Dinteranthus pole-evansii is one of the more instantly recognizable mesembs, with a dimpled white body that looks uncannily like a half-buried golf ball. Its range is confined to a narrow strip between Upington and Prieska in the Northern Cape, where no more than a thousand individuals are thought to remain. Like the rest of Dinteranthus, it shares a resemblance to Lithops so strong it fools most beginner growers. The genus differs in its smaller seed, a trait that makes propagation more difficult. We find established plants slightly more forgiving in cultivation than Lithops, especially when watering during their cyclical “splitting” period when new growth emerges from between the old leaves. In habitat it survives on almost no rainfall, defying its cryptic nature only briefly to flower.
