The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and New Zealand. Highly succulent species that resemble stones are sometimes called mesembs.
Mesembryanthemum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae; like many members of this family, it is characterized by long-lasting flower heads. Flowers of Mesembryanthemum protect their gametes from night-time dews or frosts but open in sunlight. There is an obvious evolutionary advantage to doing this; where sun, dew, frost, wind or predators are likely to damage exposed reproductive organs, closing may be advantageous during times when flowers are unlikely to attract pollinators. It is indigenous to southern Africa.
Delosperma is a genus of around 170 species of succulent plants, formerly included in Mesembryanthemum in the family Aizoaceae. It was defined by English botanist N. E. Brown in 1925. The genus is common in southern and eastern Africa, with a few species in Madagascar, Reunion island, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Delosperma species, as do most Aizoaceae, have hygrochastic capsules, opening and closing as they wet and dry.
Aptenia is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae. They are native to southern Africa. The genus name is from the Greek a- (not) and ptenos (winged), and refers to the wingless fruit capsules.
Conophytum is a genus of South African and Namibian succulent plants that belong to the family Aizoaceae. The name is derived from the Latin conus (cone) and Greek phytum (plant). The plants are also known as knopies, waterblasies, sphaeroids, conos, cone plants, dumplings, or button plants.
Mesembryanthemum cordifolium formerly known as Aptenia cordifolia is a species of succulent plant in the iceplant family. It is a creeping plant that forms a carpet of flat-growing perennial herbs in groups on the ground from a base. Genus name means middle-embryo flower in reference to the position of the ovary in the flower. The specific epithet is derived from Latin for heart-shaped leaves.
Glottiphyllum is a genus of about 57 species of succulent subtropical plants of the family Aizoaceae. It is closely related to the Gibbaeum and Faucaria genera. The name comes from ancient Greek γλωττίς glottis "tongue" and φύλλον phyllon "leaf". The species are native to South Africa, specifically to Cape Province and the Karoo desert. They grow in rocks and soils incorporating slate, sandstone and quartz. Rainfall in their native areas is between 125 and 500 mm, most of which falls in March and November.
Glottiphyllum longum is a species of succulent plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces, South Africa.
Lampranthus tenuifolius, the Narrow-leaf Brightfig, is a critically endangered species of succulent plant that is endemic to the Cape Flats Dune Strandveld around Cape Town, South Africa.
Pleiospilos bolusii, the mimicry plant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Eastern Cape of South Africa, where it grows at an altitude of 750–1,100 m (2,461–3,609 ft). The species epithet bolusii honours Harry Bolus, a 19th-century South African botanist.
Cleretum bellidiforme, commonly called Livingstone daisy, Bokbaaivygie (Afrikaans), or Buck Bay vygie, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. It is a low-growing succulent annual growing to 25 cm (10 in), and cultivated for its iridescent, many-petalled, daisy-like blooms in shades of white, yellow, orange, cream, pink and crimson. In temperate areas it is popularly grown as a half-hardy annual, and lends itself to mass plantings or as edging plants in summer bedding schemes in parks and gardens. It is still widely referenced under its former names, Mesembryanthemum criniflorum and Dorotheanthus bellidiformis.
Conophytum stephanii is a small South African species of Conophytum succulents named after German plant collector Paul Stephan, who tended the succulent collection at the Hamburg Botanic Garden in Hamburg, Germany. The plant was first described by Dr. Schwantes in 1929 and published in "Die Gartenwelt" 33:25.
Conophytum calculus is a small South African species of succulent plant in the family Aizoaceae.
Conophytum flavum, the yellow cone plant, is a small South African species of succulent flowering plant of the family Aizoaceae.
Conophytum bilobum is a plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to southern South Africa. It blooms in autumn. It is scentless and grows to a height of 7 cm (2.8 in). The specific epithet bilobum comes from the two-lobed bodies these plants possess.
Conophytum obcordellum is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Western Cape of South Africa. It is a small clump-forming succulent, growing to 10 cm tall and 1m broad, forming glossy grey pebble-shaped growths, heavily marked with dots and lines. Daisy-like, silky white or pink night-scented flowers are borne on mature plants in spring.
Conophytum longum, called the long-leaved cone plant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Conophytum, native to the western Cape Provinces of South Africa. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Conophytum pellucidum, called the transparent cone plant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Conophytum, native to the western Cape Provinces of South Africa. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Conophytum wettsteinii is a species of flowering plant in the genus Conophytum, native to the northwest Cape Provinces of South Africa. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
