Conophytum luckhoffii is a fairly long-lived, winter-growing, summer-resting perennial, with a compact cushion-like growth habit that is retained in cultivation. The plants grow in crevices and rocky pockets on cliffs and its highly succulent leaves enables the plant to survive the long dry summers, when the plant goes into its resting phase. The darker leaf windows adjacent to the leaf centres allows light to penetrate the swollen succulent tissue, a characteristic also found on a few other cliff dwelling succulents. At the end of spring, the moisture from the old fused leaf pair is recycled into a new leaf pair, and the older withering remnants of the leaf pair becomes a covering, which protects the younger leaf pair from the sun, during the long dry summer months. In autumn, with cooler conditions, the new leaf pair and flower emerges, breaking through the protective covering of the greyish white remains of the old leaf. The simple, magenta to pink flower is large, 3-4 times the size of the plant body, and conspicuous, thus maximising visibility for successful pollination in the cliff environment, and an example of rich flowering ensuring visibility. Flowers are open during the day and scentless, suggesting a day-flying insect pollinator, such as bees. After successful pollination the capsule matures slowly and reaches maturity during the summer months. The capsule is hygrochastical and will only open with rain, where the expending keel forces open the cell lids. Capsules have broad rectangular valve wings, but the cavities are without covering membranes. Rain fills the saucer-like cavity of the capsule and the seeds are washed out and down the cliffs, succumbing to gravity until they become wedged in a crevice. The large, tuberculate seeds provide good anchorage for seedlings. Once the dry conditions set in, the expanding keels contract, again closing the lids and safely retaining the seed for the next rain event. At the end of the growing season the leaves turn reddish or purplish, due to the presence of the pigment betanin, which slows the process of phototsyntheses and aiding in water conservation.

Fig. 8. Conophytum luckhoffii in autumn, the plant just coming out of its summer rest period with the new leaves breaking through the protective sheath formed by the remains of the old leaves. The dried out leaf of the previous season acts almost like a protective tent.