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Mesembryanthemum is a genus of flowering plants in 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. It is indigenous to southern Africa.

Mesembryanthemum
Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Aizoaceae
Subfamily:	Mesembryanthemoideae
Genus:	Mesembryanthemum L.
Species
See text for accepted species
Synonyms
Mesembrianthemum (Jacob Breyne)

Many Mesembryanthemum species are known as ice plants because of the glistening globular bladder cells covering their stems, fruit and leaves,[1] "... they sparkle like ice crystals".[2] In South Africa, Mesembryanthemums are known as "vygies" (from Afrikaans "vy"), although this term refers to many plants in the family Aizoaceae.

Species formerly placed in Mesembryanthemum have been transferred to other genera, such as Cleretum, Carpobrotus and Sceletium, although sources differ.

Etymology

Jacob Breyne coined the name of the flower in 1684, using the spelling Mesembrianthemum ("midday flower"[3]), 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 ("flower with the pistil in the center"[3]), rederiving the first part of the word from Greek μεσος ("middle") and ἔμβρυον ("pistil" or "embryo"). Carl Linnaeus used the Dillenius spelling (with the "y") in his description of the Mesembryanthemum species and the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature requires the retention of the original, deliberate spelling.[3][4]

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,[5] and as such may be subject to legal restrictions (e.g. Louisiana State Act 159).

Species

As of March 2019^[update], Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:[6]

Gallery

• 
  M. crystallinum
• 
  M. nodiflorum

Legal status

United States

Louisiana

Except for ornamental purposes, growing, selling or possessing any species of Mesembryanthemum is prohibited by Louisiana State Act 159.

See also

• N. E. Brown
• The botanical family Aizoaceae, also called Mesembryanthemaceae

Notes and references

• Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
• Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

External links

На других языках

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- [en] Mesembryanthemum

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[es] Mesembryanthemum

Mesembryanthemum es un género de plantas herbáceas con unas 1100 especies descritas de la familia Aizoaceae, subfamilia Mesembryanthemoideae[1] nativas del sur de África. Solo 105 de estas especies son aceptadas, pues unas cuantas han sido trasladadas a otros géneros como Carpobrotus y Delosperma, y la mayoría de las otras son especies taxonómicamente discutidas.[1]

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[ru] Мезембриантемум

Мезембриантемум (лат. Mesembryanthemum) — род однолетних или двулетних небольших суккулентных растений семейства Аизовые (Aizoaceae), распространённых в Южной Африке.

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