Mesembryanthemum (meaning "midday flowering") is a genus of plants native to southern Africa. Many species which were formerly placed herein have since been moved into other genera such as Carpobrotus Sceletium is sometimes included here.

Fig marigold or Icicle plant is a name for any of several South African taxa of Mesembryanthemum which are cultivated as ornamental plants for their showy pink or white flowers. "Pebble plant" or "Ice plant" are other but rather ambiguous common names, usually referring to other Aizoaceae.

Mesembryanthemum is a member of the family Aizoaceae; like many members of this 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.

Ornamental Mesembryanthemum may escape into the wild and consequently has become widely naturalized outside their native range. They are considered an invasive weed in certain places. Some species are hallucinogenic plants^{[citation needed]} and as such may be subject to legal restrictions (e.g. Louisiana State Act 159).

Name

Jacob Breyne 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 at his time flowered at midday. In 1719, on 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 ("middle") and ἔμβρυον ("rudimentary fruit" or "embryo").^[1]

Selected species

• Mesembryanthemum cordifolium
• Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
• Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum
• Mesembryanthemum salmii

See also

• N. E. Brown

Notes and references

• Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11892. 
• Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)