Strand and Dune Flora of the Pacific Coast 153 



Carpobrotus chilensis (Molina) N. E. Br. [Mesembryanthe- 

 mum aequilaterale Brewer and Watson], figure 6a, an extreme 

 succulent, is a very important member of the foredune commun- 

 ity. It is not especially noteworthy as a mound former, but is 

 effective in binding the surface of hillocks initiated by other 

 species. The known range on the Pacific coast of North America 

 extends from Cape Blanco, southern Oregon, southward to 

 Socorro, Baja California; it is quite possible that it may occur 

 farther in that direction. It is most abundant on the coast of 

 California from San Francisco Bay to the Mexican boundary. It 

 also is found on the coast of Chile. 



The genus Mesembryanthe^num as treated by earlier authors 

 is a group of enormous size, mainly confined to South Africa, Its 

 members are more or less succulent, most of them very decidedly 

 so. N. E. Brown has pointed out the fundamental diversity ex- 

 isting within the group and has accordingly made division into 

 numerous genera. 



The plant of the Pacific coasts of North and South America 

 has been assigned to the genus Carpobrotus (Brown, 1925), a 

 group of from 15 to 20 species, two-thirds of which are confined 

 to South Africa. The four recognized Australasian species were 

 formerly combined with the American plant as Mesembryanthe- 

 mum aequilaterale. Carpobrotus is the most widely distributed 

 genus of the entire group (Brown, 1928). It also is reasonable 

 to assume that it is closest to the primitive stock because, with 

 its elongated stems and numerous leaves, it is not far removed 

 from the norm of plant habit. In the course of migration from 

 its African home to Australasia and America, it has become 

 differentiated into several species not notably divergent from the 

 type. In the meantime the stay-at-home contingent has indulged 

 in a wild orgy of evolutionary development, in which practical 



