Cultivars vs species: what 'Albinica', 'Rubra', and other quoted names mean

Italicised binomials like Lithops karasmontana are species. Subspecies, varieties, and forms — also italicised — are wild taxonomic ranks within a species.

A name in single quotes (' ') is a cultivar — a horticultural selection maintained by propagation, usually because it has a distinctive feature worth preserving. Lithops karasmontana 'Top Red' is a cultivar; Lithops karasmontana var. lericheana is a wild variety.

'Albinica' applied to Lithops refers to selected pale or white-fruited forms, most famously Lithops karasmontana 'Albinica' and Lithops julii 'Fulleri Albinica'. These plants lack red pigmentation in the window markings and instead show clean grey or green patterning on a chalk-white body. They are propagated to maintain the trait, not collected as a wild taxon.

'Rubra' refers to red-pigmented selections — most famously Lithops optica 'Rubra'. The mother plant is a single nursery selection (originating in California in the early 20th century) propagated for decades as cuttings and seed to maintain the deep ruby colour. It is a cultivar, not a wild form, and seed-grown plants segregate readily back toward type green.

Buying a 'Rubra' from seed is risky; only a fraction will breed true. Buying from documented division stock is reliable. Either way, the quoted name describes a horticultural lineage, not a wild population — do not record it on the same line as a C-number unless the C-number is the cultivar's documented origin.