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Mesembryanthemum
Also called Fig Marigolds, Preenfigs, Ice Plants, Pebble Ice Plants
Mesembryanthemum is a genus of succulent flowering plants from southern Africa, grown for their showy daisy-like flowers and glistening, ice-like leaves. Grow them in full sun with very free-draining soil and water sparingly.
Mesembryanthemum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to southern Africa. As with many members of that family, it is characterized by long-lasting flower heads. Flowers of Mesembryanthemum protect close at night-time but open in sunlight. Where sun, dew, frost, wind or predators are likely to damage exposed reproductive organs, closing may be advantageous during times when flowers are unlikely to attract pollinators.
Many Mesembryanthemum species are known as ice plants because of the glistening globular bladder cells covering their stems, fruit and leaves, "... they sparkle like ice crystals". In South Africa, Mesembryanthemums are known as "vygies" (from Afrikaans "vy"), although that term refers to many plants in the family Aizoaceae.
Mesembryanthemums are often cultivated as ornamental plants for their showy flowers. Ornamental plants may escape into the wild and consequently have become widely naturalized outside their native range. They are considered an invasive weed in certain places.
Iceplant · Heart Leaf Ice Plant · Common iceplant · Slenderleaf iceplant · Mesembryanthemum tortuosum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Mesembryanthemum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
