Flower and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, Carnarvon, WA

Flowering plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, Carnarvon, WA

Common Name

Common Ice Plant; Ice Plant

Family

Aizoaceae

Notes

Introduced annual or biennial forb or shrub, prostrate.  Leaves often with a basal rosette, and alternating along the stems or opposite each other, stem clasping. Leaves succulent, flat, 2-15cm long, to 100mm wide, warty, hairless, with wavy edges, and pointed tips.  Flowers white, with about 100-120 ‘petals’, solitary at the ends of the stems or at the bases of the leaves.

Differs from Mesembryanthemum guerichianum in that the plant is prostrate, the flowers are 10-20mm in diameter, occasionaly to 30mm, and the flowers have about 100-120 'petals'.

Description and photo in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 294

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Mesembryanthemum~crystallinum