Plants have evolved many ways of deterring animals from eating them, from spines to chemical poisons. Terry Smale describes the successful strategy of Lithops, the living stones, which is not to look like a plant at all. Even in a group of plants as diverse as cacti and other succulents, many noted for their strange forms and adaptations, Lithops stand out from the rest. These curious, small plants, 2-4cm (3/4-1 (1/2) in) in diameter and rarely green, look as though they are not really plants at all, particularly growing among pebbles of similar colours. This is no coincidence: Lithops have evolved to imitate stones. Chameleon-like, they match their colour and shape to the rock type on which they grow, subtly blending into their surroundings so their fleshy, water-storing tissue is overlooked by grazing animals.
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机译：植物已经进化出许多方法来阻止动物吃东西，从刺到化学毒物。 Terry Smale描述了活石“ Lithops”的成功策略，它看起来根本不像植物。甚至在仙人掌和其他多肉植物等多种植物中，许多以其奇特的形式和适应性而闻名，Lithops在其他植物中也脱颖而出。这些奇特的小植物，直径2-4厘米（3 / 4-1（1/2）英寸），很少绿色，看起来好像根本不是真正的植物，尤其是生长在颜色相似的鹅卵石中。这绝非偶然：石刻已发展为模仿石头。像变色龙一样，它们的颜色和形状与它们所生长的岩石类型匹配，巧妙地融入了周围的环境，因此它们的肉质，蓄水的组织被放牧的动物所忽视。
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