Crystalline Ice(plant)

Crystalline Iceplant, Mesenbryanthemum crystallinum. The crystalline iceplant is native to Africa, Western Asia and Europe and is quite salt tolerant. The leaves are edible and are covered with tiny bladders that sparkle in the sun like dew drops [click on the picture for a closeup that shows the little bladders]. In California, they have become aggressively invasive along coastal bluffs and along the beach, likely having escaped from ornamental gardens.