Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
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| Common Ice Plant | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 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. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Cryophytum crystallinum (L.) N. E. Br. |
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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]
[edit] Uses
Its leaves are edible, as with some other members of the Aizoaceae family.
It is also cultivated for ornamentation.
[edit] Biology
The plant usually uses C3 photosynthesis but when it becomes water or salt stressed it is able to switch to CAM photosynthesis.[3]
[edit] 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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