- Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
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Common Ice Plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum in Lanzarote Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Core eudicots Order: Caryophyllales Family: Aizoaceae Subfamily: Mesembryanthemoideae Genus: Mesembryanthemum Species: M. crystallinum Binomial name Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
L.Synonyms Cryophytum crystallinum (L.) N. E. Br.
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum is a prostrate succulent plant that is native to Africa, Western Asia and Europe.[1] The plant is covered with large, glistening bladder cells, reflected in its common names of Common Ice Plant, Crystalline Iceplant or Iceplant.[1][2]
Uses
Its leaves are edible, as with some other members of the Aizoaceae family.
It is also cultivated for ornamentation.
Biology
The plant usually uses C3 photosynthesis but when it becomes water or salt stressed it is able to switch to CAM photosynthesis.[3]
References
- ^ a b "Taxon: Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?24132. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ "Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.". Water for a Healthy Country. CSIRO. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/WfHC/Mesembryanthemum/index.html. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/38/3/236 Plant and Cell Physiology, 1997, Vol. 38, No. 3 236-242 Induction of CAM in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Abolishes the Stomatal Response to Blue Light and Light-Dependent Zeaxanthin Formation in Guard Cell Chloroplasts. Gary Tallman1, Jianxin Zhu2, Bruce T. Mawson et al
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