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Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

Common name:	Ice Plant	Family:	Aizoaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	50, 200
Synonyms:	Cryophytum crystallinum ((L.)N.E.Br.), Carpobrotus crystallinum
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. Africa. Introduced and naturalized in S. Europe.
Habitat:	Maritime sands and salt marshes[50].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Gasoul crystallinum[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Buzotu [E], Common Iceplant [B,P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Fig-marigold family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Turkey
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.1m by 0.5m . It is hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender. It is in flower from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit Leaves Seed.

Leaves and stems - raw or cooked[27, 52, 84, 95, 264]. They can be used as a spinach substitute[2]. The leaves have an acid flavour, they are thick and very succulent with a slightly salty tang[183]. They can also be pickled like cucumbers or used as a garnish[183].
Fruit[84, 106]. No more details are given.
Seed - a famine food used when all else fails[177].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Demulcent Diuretic.

The plant is demulcent and diuretic[240]. It is used in the treatment of inflammations of the pulmonary and genito-urinary mucous membranes[240].
The leaves are used in the treatment of ascites, dysentery and diseases of the liver and kidney[240].

Other Uses

Soap.

The crushed foliage is a soap substitute[84].

Cultivation details

Easily grown in an ordinary well-drained garden soil[1, 52]. Succeeds in any well-drained low-fertility soil so long as it is in a sunny position[200].
A very ornamental plant, it is occasionally cultivated for its edible leaves[1, 264]. It is not very hardy in Britain and will be killed even by a light frost[264]. It is, therefore, usually grown as a half-hardy annual, being sown in a greenhouse in the spring and used for summer bedding[52].
Plants have few problems with pests or diseases though the young plants are prone to root rot and damping off unless given plenty of ventilation and dry growing conditions[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse, only just covering the seed. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out after the last expected frosts. Seedlings are prone to damp off so should not be over watered and should be kept in a very sunny well-ventilated position[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Aizoaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[84] Coyle. J. and Roberts. N. C. A Field Guide to the Common and Interesting Plants of Baja California. Natural History Publishing Co. 1975
A very readable pocket flora with good illustrations, it gives quite a few plant uses.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[106] Coon. N. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press 1975 ISBN 0-87857-090-x
Interesting reading but short on detail.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[264] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Vegetables Macmillan Reference Books, London. 1995 ISBN 0 333 62640 0
Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.

Readers Comments

Texas Beach area

Buck (buck6@pacbell.net) Wed Jun 13 18:49:44 2001

I don't know if it freezes in the winter. But if it doesn't Try good old "Ice Plant" (common name). Beautiful spring blossums and out here on the Pacific Coast it will go all season on the winter rains. Covers the sand and holds it from blowing in the wind. Just hack off an eighteen inch piece, bury it half way, plant about 2ft. apart and kick back. What doesn't take off in the spring, you could replant, but I just let it fill in. Oh yes plant in the fall or early spring to ketch the rains.

Details of Growing Condition: Pacific Coast sand dunes, South of winter freeze.

Cross references: Web-pages: Ground cover plants..

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

Unknown Sun Oct 21 08:53:25 2001

If you want to know more information about diferrent uses of this plant you can get contact with Biologic University in Canary Islands(Facultad de Biologia de la Universidad de La Laguna. Botanic Departament. Islas Canarias). We know the plant with the common name of: Barrilla. This plant had an important roll in the economy of the Canary Islands. (In Spanish: Si quieren recopilar mas informacion acerca del uso de esta planta pueden ponerse en contacto con la Universidad de La Laguna, en las Islas Canarias. Ellos poseen amplia informacion sobre la misma y sobre su historia y usos. Esta planta tuvo un importante papel economico en el archipielago durante las pasadas centurias. En Canarias se la conoce con el nombre comun de: Barrilla.)

Details of Growing Condition: Canary Islands. Cost area between 0-300 m up the level of the sea. Poor soil, sandy and salty..

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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