Showing posts with label Crystalline Iceplant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crystalline Iceplant. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

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.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Crystalline Iceplant


I found this Crystalline Iceplant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, growing along the sandstone cliffs of La Jolla. It has the coolest red bubbly looking seedpods. Apparently, it is introduced. The genus name is quite the tongue twister.