Fenestraria rhopalophylla aurantiaca

Description

Fenestraria (known as babies' toes or window plant0 is a (possibly monotypic) genus of succulent plants in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Namaqualand in Namibia. The only species currently recognised in this genus is Fenestraria rhopalophylla. Each leaf has an epidermal window, a transparent window-like area, at its rounded tip, it is for these window-like structures that the genus is named (Latin: fenestra). Fenestraria rhopalophylla appears very similar to Frithia pulchra, though the leaves are a slightly different shape and F. rhopalophylla has yellow flowers, compared to the pink flowers of F. pulchra. In the wild, the plant commonly grows under sand, except for the transparent tips, which allow light into the leaves for photosynthesis. The plant produces optical fibers made from crystalline oxalic acid which transmit light to subterranean photosynthetic sites.