462 



AIZOACEAE 



6. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM L. FIG MARIGOLD. 



Ours herbs. Stems and leaves very succulent, without stipules. Flowers 

 axillary and terminal. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary, the lobes unequal and 

 foliaceous. Petals linear, very numerous, inserted with the innumerable sta- 

 mens on the tube of the calyx. Ovary 5 to 12-celled, the styles as many as 

 the cells of the ovary and distinct or nearly so. Capsule becoming baccate, 

 dehiscing in rainy weather by stellate valves at the flattened summit. Seeds 

 minute, numerous. (Greek mesembria, mid-day, and antheinon,- blossom.) 



The 300 species of Mesembryanthemum are chiefly natives of South Africa, with a few in 

 the Mediterranean region and in Australia. M. nodiflorum, M. crystallinum and M. aequilaterale 

 seem out of place on the California coast and their status as native elements of our flora has. 

 been questioned. The balance of evidence as presented by Parish (The Calif ornian Mesem- 

 brianthemums, Zoe, 1: 261) and by Greene (Pitt. 1: 82) is, however, strongly in favor of 

 regarding them as indigenous plants, and these species are here so listed. The remaining 

 species reported from California are, on the other hand, plainly adventitious or escapes from 

 gardens. M. CORDIFOLIUM L. f. has the upper leaves petioled and cordate, and the flowers red. 

 It has been cultivated in California for forty-five years or more, under the name of Dew Plant, 

 and is an occasional escape from gardens (Zoe, 2: 352). M. PUGIONIFORME L. is a more recent 

 arrival; stems from a thick perennial root; leaves linear-triquetrous, 2 to 5 inches long, mostly 

 alternate but crowded in a basal tuft and towards the ends of the branchlets; calyx bowl- 

 shaped, with caudate lobes, 7 to 10 or in fruit 10 to 14 lines broad. Sparingly adventitious 

 (Cliff House sand-dunes, San Francisco, Hall 4810; Pacific Grove, Heller 6717). 

 Annual; leaves alternate; herbage covered with shining vesicles; ovary 5-celled. 



Leaves linear, semiterete 1. M . nodiflorum. 



Leaves ovate to spatulate, flat 2. M. crystallinum. 



Perennial; leaves opposite, thick, dorsally carinate; herbage smooth; ovary 10 to 12-celled. . . . 



3. M. aequilaterale. 



1. M. nodiflorum L. Stems several from the base, prostrate or ascending; 

 herbage covered with fine vesicles; leaves linear, 4 to 8 lines long, ^ to 1 

 line wide; flowers solitary in the axils, subsessile or shortly peduncled; petals 

 white, minute, much shorter than the calyx-lobes. 



Southern California coast. 



Locs. San Juan, Orange Co., Abrams 3280; Lakeside, Parish 4428; San Diego, Orcutt 333; 

 Santa Catalina Isl. ace. Davidson (Erythea, 1: 59). 



Ref. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM NODIFLORUM L. Sp. PL 480 (1753), type loc. Egypt. 



2. M. crystallinum L. ICE-PLANT. Stems repeatedly and rather shortly 

 forked, 1 to 2 feet long; herbage covered with crystalline-dewy vesicles; 

 leaves broadly ovate to broadly spatulate, % to l*/^ inches long, narrowed 

 to a short amplexicaul base, the lowest 2 to 5 inches long and nearly as 

 broad and with a subcordate petioled base; calyx campanulate, 4 to 6 lines 

 long; petals reddish, varying to white; ovary 5-celled. 



Coast from Santa Barbara Co. south to San Diego. Lower California. 

 Locs. Santa Monica, Hall 3277; Westminster, Byram; Coronado, Hall 3945; Santa Cruz 

 Isl. (Greene, Bull. Cal. Acad. 2: 399); Mohave Desert, K. Brandegee (Zoe, 1: 263). 

 Eef. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM L. Sp. PI. 480 (1753), type loc. ? Africa. 



3. M. aequilaterale Haw. SEA FIG. Stems several feet long, the plants 

 forming extensive mats; leaves 3-sided, with nearly flat faces, thicker than 

 broad, iy 2 to 2 inches long; flowers terminal, subsessile or shortly peduncled, 

 fragrant and showy (11/4 to 2 inches broad) ; petals bright rose-purple; ovary 

 9 to 12-celled. 



Dunes and cliffs near the sea from Marin Co. southward to San Diego. In 

 cultivation at Berkeley under the student name of ''Faculty Onions." Also 

 called "Beach-Strawberry." 



Locs. San Francisco; Ano Neuvo Pt., Jepson; San Luis Obispo (called "Beach-Apple"); 

 Santa Cruz Isl. (Greene, Bull. Cal. Acad. 2: 399); San Miguel Isl. (Greene, Pitt. 1: 88). 



Eef. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM AEQUILATERALE Haw. Misc. Nat. 77 (1803), type Australasian. 



