About

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (the common, 'crystalline' or 'crystallinum' iceplant, or simply 'iceplant') is a species of annual/perennial, succulent flowering plant in the Mesembryanthemum genus of the Aizoaceae family.

A true Mediterranean-climate grower, this prostrate groundcover is native to coastal North Africa and Sinai, the Levant and maritime Southern Europe, and several Mediterranean and North Atlantic islands, as well. The plant is covered with large, glistening bladder cells, or water vesicles, hence its many common names such as crystallinum iceplant, crystalline iceplant or iceplant.

Where it grows

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum is native to Africa, Sinai and southern Europe, and naturalized in the Southwest of North America, as well as in South America and Australia. It is found on a wide range of soil types, from well-drained sandy soils (including sand dunes), to loamy and clay soils. It can tolerate nutritionally poor or saline soils (halophile), and grows well in disturbed sites such as roadsides, rubbish dumps and homestead yards.

Uses

The leaves are edible, as with some other members of the family Aizoaceae. The plant was once promoted in the United States and Europe as a vegetable similar to spinach, but failed to gain popularity. In southern Africa, the leaves and stems are gathered from the wild and pickled. In Japan, the plant has become a common vegetable sold in supermarkets after Saga University succeeded in hydroponic cultivation of a commercial quantity in 2009; the vegetable goes by the names ice plant (アイスプラント), salt leaf (ソルトリーフ) and barafu (バラフ). The seeds are also edible.

Other Mesembryanthemum plants

Iceplant · Heart Leaf Ice Plant · Slenderleaf iceplant · Mesembryanthemum tortuosum · Iceplant