ICE-PLANT.
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, L. Fig-Marigold Family.
Procumbent, succulent plants, covered with minute, elongated, glistening papillæ. Leaves.—Flat; ovate or spatulate; undulate-margined; clasping. Flowers.—White or rose-colored; axillary; nearly sessile; rather small. Calyx.—With campanulate tube and usually five unequal lobes. Petals.—Linear; numerous. Stamens.—Numerous. Ovary.—Two- to many-celled. Stigmas five. Hab.—The Coast and adjacent islands from Santa Barbara southward; also in the Mojave Desert.
The ice-plant spreads its broad, green leaves over the ground, often making large rugs, which, when reddened by the approach of drouth and glistening with small crystals, produce a charming effect. The flat leaves of this plant are quite unexpectedly different from those of our other species of Mesembryanthemum, which are usually cylindrical or triangular. The leaf-stems and the calyx-tube, in particular, are beautifully jeweled with the clear, glasslike incrustation. The flesh-pink or almost white flowers resemble small sea-anemones, with their single row of tentacle-like petals and hollow tube powdered with the little white anthers.
The plant grows so abundantly in the fields of the southern seasides as to be a dreadful pest to the farmer, and it is very disagreeable to walk through, as it yields up the water of its crystals very readily, and this is said to be of an alkaline quality, which is ruinous to shoe-leather.
This ice-plant grows plentifully in the chalky regions of France, and has there been recommended for use as a food, to be prepared like spinach. It also grows in the Canary Islands.