IN CALIFORNIA 267 



age which seems frosted with particles of ice and 

 on this account it has long been one of the world's 

 green-house curiosities under the name of ice-plant. 

 In the Canary Islands the burning of the ice-plant 

 and exportation of the ashes for use in Spanish 

 glass making was once, and perhaps still is, a con- 

 siderable industry. Many species of Mesembryan- 

 themum, indeed, are noted for grotesqueries of form, 

 like the allied tribe of the cacti, and also like the 

 latter bear a fruit resembling the fig that is in some 

 cases palatable. Because of this fruit and the com- 

 positae-like character of the blossoms, members of 

 the genus are also known as fig-marigolds. These 

 fruit-capsules are a very interesting part of the 

 plant. They are tightly closed in dry weather but 

 possess to a remarkable degree the property of ab- 

 sorbing moisture from the air, and after a rain they 

 open out their carpellary valves, which radiate from 

 the center in star fashion, and permit the seeds to 

 escape. When the weather clears they close, to 

 gape again with the return of another shower. The 

 curious will find entertainment in soaking mature, 

 dry capsules in a basin of water, and watching the 

 starry tops open out, as do the so-called resurrec- 

 tion plants, of the curio-shops. 



A denizen of many California gardens that is sure 

 to attract an Easterner's attention, and indeed is far 



