Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum
Encyclopedia
Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum is a species of succulent plant
in the ice plant family
known by the common name slenderleaf ice plant. It is native to southern Africa, but it is known in many other places as an introduced species
and sometimes an invasive weed
, including several regions of Australia, parts of the western United States and adjacent Mexico, and some Atlantic islands. This is a usually annual herb forming a mostly prostrate clump or mat of stems up to about 20 centimeters in maximum length. The small stem branches are lined with knob-like cylindrical fleshy leaves up to 2 centimeters long. The herbage is green to bright red and visibly bumpy with shiny, bubble-like papilla
e. Flowers are solitary or borne in loose clusters. Each is about half a centimeter wide with many narrow to thready white or pale yellow petals. The fruit is a capsule which opens when it becomes wet, releasing seeds.
Succulent plant
Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, stems, and also in roots...
in the ice plant family
Aizoaceae
The Family Aizoaceae or Ficoidaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1900 species. They are commonly known as stone plants or carpet weeds. Species that resemble stones or pebbles are sometimes called mesembs...
known by the common name slenderleaf ice plant. It is native to southern Africa, but it is known in many other places as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and sometimes an invasive weed
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
, including several regions of Australia, parts of the western United States and adjacent Mexico, and some Atlantic islands. This is a usually annual herb forming a mostly prostrate clump or mat of stems up to about 20 centimeters in maximum length. The small stem branches are lined with knob-like cylindrical fleshy leaves up to 2 centimeters long. The herbage is green to bright red and visibly bumpy with shiny, bubble-like papilla
Plant cuticle
Plant cuticles are a protective waxy covering produced only by the epidermal cells of leaves, young shoots and all other aerial plant organs without periderm...
e. Flowers are solitary or borne in loose clusters. Each is about half a centimeter wide with many narrow to thready white or pale yellow petals. The fruit is a capsule which opens when it becomes wet, releasing seeds.