Mesembryanthemum
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 their gametes from night-time dews or frosts but open in sunlight. There is an obvious evolutionary advantage to doing this; 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", although that term refers to many plants in the family Aizoaceae.
Species formerly placed in Mesembryanthemum have been transferred to other genera, such as Cleretum and Carpobrotus, although sources differ.
Etymology
coined the name of the flower in 1684, using the spelling Mesembrianthemum, from the Greek roots μεσημβρία, meaning "noon", and ἄνθεμον, meaning "flower", because the species known in his time flowered at midday. In 1719, with the discovery that some species flowered at night, Johann Jacob Dillenius changed the spelling to Mesembryanthemum, rederiving the first part of the word from Greek μεσος and ἔμβρυον. Carl Linnaeus used the Dillenius spelling in his description of the Mesembryanthemum species and the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature requires the retention of the original, deliberate spelling.Description
s are found in abundance in this genus.Uses
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.Culture and society
Some Mesembryanthemum species are thought to be hallucinogenic plants, like related Aizoaceae, and as such may be subject to legal restrictions.Species
, Plants of [the World Online] accepted the following 108 species:- Mesembryanthemum aitonis Jacq.
- Mesembryanthemum alatum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum amabile Klak
- Mesembryanthemum amplectens L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum archeri Klak
- Mesembryanthemum arenarium L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum articulatum Thunb.
- Mesembryanthemum barklyi N.E.Br.
- Mesembryanthemum baylissii Klak
- Mesembryanthemum bicorne Sond.
- Mesembryanthemum brevicarpum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum bulletrapense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum canaliculatum Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum caudatum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum chrysophthalmum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum clandestinum Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum corallinum Thunb.
- Mesembryanthemum cordifolium L.f.
- Mesembryanthemum coriarium Burch.
- Mesembryanthemum crassicaule Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum cryptanthum Hook.f.
- Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.
- Mesembryanthemum deciduum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum decurvatum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum delum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum digitatum Aiton
- Mesembryanthemum dimorphum Welw. ex Oliv.
- Mesembryanthemum dinteri Engl.
- Mesembryanthemum emarcidum Thunb.
- Mesembryanthemum englishiae L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum eurystigmatum Gerbaulet
- Mesembryanthemum exalatum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum excavatum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum expansum L.
- Mesembryanthemum fastigiatum Thunb.
- Mesembryanthemum flavidum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum gariepense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum gariusanum Dinter
- Mesembryanthemum geniculiflorum L.
- Mesembryanthemum gessertianum Dinter & A.Berger
- Mesembryanthemum glareicola Klak
- Mesembryanthemum granulicaule Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum grossum Aiton
- Mesembryanthemum guerichianum Pax
- Mesembryanthemum haeckelianum A.Berger
- Mesembryanthemum holense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum hypertrophicum Dinter
- Mesembryanthemum inachabense Engl.
- Mesembryanthemum junceum Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum juttae Dinter & A.Berger
- Mesembryanthemum knolfonteinense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum kuntzei Schinz
- Mesembryanthemum ladismithiense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum lancifolium Klak
- Mesembryanthemum latipetalum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum leptarthron A.Berger
- Mesembryanthemum lignescens Klak
- Mesembryanthemum ligneum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum lilliputanum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum longipapillosum Dinter
- Mesembryanthemum longistylum DC.
- Mesembryanthemum marlothii Pax
- Mesembryanthemum namibense Marloth
- Mesembryanthemum napierense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum neglectum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum neofoliosum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum nitidum Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum noctiflorum L.
- Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum L.
- Mesembryanthemum nucifer Klak
- Mesembryanthemum occidentale Klak
- Mesembryanthemum oculatum N.E.Br.
- Mesembryanthemum oubergense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum pallens Aiton
- Mesembryanthemum parviflorum Jacq.
- Mesembryanthemum paulum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum pellitum Friedrich
- Mesembryanthemum prasinum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum pseudoschlichtianum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum quartziticola Klak
- Mesembryanthemum rabiei Klak
- Mesembryanthemum rapaceum Jacq.
- Mesembryanthemum resurgens Kensit
- Mesembryanthemum rhizophorum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum salicornioides Pax
- Mesembryanthemum schenckii Schinz
- Mesembryanthemum schlichtianum Sond.
- Mesembryanthemum serotinum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum sinuosum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum sladenianum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum spinuliferum Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum splendens L.
- Mesembryanthemum springbokense Klak
- Mesembryanthemum stenandrum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum subnodosum A.Berger
- Mesembryanthemum subtruncatum L.Bolus
- Mesembryanthemum suffruticosum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum tenuiflorum Jacq.
- Mesembryanthemum tetragonum Thunb.
- Mesembryanthemum theurkauffii Maire
- Mesembryanthemum tomentosum Klak
- Mesembryanthemum tortuosum L.
- Mesembryanthemum trichotomum Thunb.
- Mesembryanthemum vaginatum Lam.
- Mesembryanthemum vanheerdei Klak
- Mesembryanthemum vanrensburgii Klak
- Mesembryanthemum varians Haw.
- Mesembryanthemum viridiflorum Aiton