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habit (Photo: Rob and Fiona Richardson)
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
fleshy leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of stem and leaf undersides showing the covering of glistening vesicular hairs (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
flower (Photo: Rob and Fiona Richardson)
close-up of flower (Photo: Rob and Fiona Richardson)
immature fruit (Photo: Rob and Fiona Richardson)
young plant (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
Scientific Name
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.
Synonyms
Cryophytum crystallinum (L.) N.E. Br.Gasoul crystallinum (L.) Rothm.
Family
Aizoaceae
Common Names
common ice plant, common ice-plant, common iceplant, crystalline ice plant, crystalline iceplant, ice plant, ice-plant, iceplant
Origin
Native to northern Africa (i.e. northern Algeria, northern Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt), south-western Africa (i.e. Namibia and South Africa), western Asia and southern Europe (i.e. Italy, south-western Yugoslavia, south-eastern France and Spain).
Naturalised Distribution
This species is widely naturalised throughout the southern and western parts of the continent, extending as far north as Exmouth on the north-western coast of Western Australia. It is common in western New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the southern parts of South Australia and the southern and western parts of Western Australia.
Also widely naturalised overseas, including in south-western USA (i.e. California and Oregon), Mexico and southern South America.
Notes
Common ice-plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) is a significant environmental weed in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and an environmental weed in Tasmania and New South Wales.