View source for Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
|accepted_authority=Linnaeus
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Sp. Pl.
|place=1: 480. 1753
|year=1753
}}
|common_names=Crystalline iceplant
|basionyms=
|synonyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Cryophytum crystallinum
|authority=(Linnaeus) N. E. Brown
}} {{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Gasoul crystallinum
|authority=(Linnaeus) Rothmaler
}}
|hierarchy=Aizoaceae;Mesembryanthemum;Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Aizoaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Mesembryanthemum]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Mesembryanthemum crystallinum]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 4
|mention_page=page 76, 84
|treatment_page=page 85
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Plants </b>annual to biennial. <b>Stems</b> trailing, dichotomously branched, to 1 m. <b>Leaves</b> sessile or petiolate; petiole, ± clasping; blade ovate to spatulate, flat, 2–20 cm, margins undulate. <b>Inflorescences</b> terminal or axillary, cymes; proximal bracts opposite, leaflike; distal bracts alternate, reduced; flowering profusely. <b>Flowers</b> 7–10 mm diam.; hypanthium aging red, round; calyx lobes 5, unequal; petals 20–40, connate into tube, white, aging pink; stamens 30. <b>Capsules</b> coarsely papillate. <b>Seeds</b> 200, rough with minute tubercles. <b>2n</b> = 18.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|phenology=Flowering year-round, mostly spring–fall.
|habitat=Coastal bluffs, cliffs, ballast dumps, disturbed ground
|elevation=0-100 m
|distribution=Ariz.;Calif.;Pa.;Mexico (Baja California);South America;Europe (Mediterranean);Africa;Atlantic Islands;Australia.
|discussion=<p>Introduced from southern and western Africa, <i>Mesembryanthemum crystallinum</i> is in cultivation as an ornamental. Its use to treat scurvy by sailors, its popularity as an ornamental potted plant aboard ships, and its occurrence in ballast dumps (as in Pennsylvania) were some of the means by which this species has become so widespread throughout the world. Gauchos in Argentina used it to treat venereal disease.</p>
|tables=
|references={{Treatment/Reference
|id=vivrette1977a
|text=Vivrette, N. J. and C. H. Muller. 1977. Mechanism of invasion and dominance of coastal grassland by Mesembryanthemum crystallinum. Ecol. Monogr. 47: 301–318.
}}
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
|author=
|authority=Linnaeus
|rank=species
|parent rank=genus
|synonyms=Cryophytum crystallinum;Gasoul crystallinum
|basionyms=
|family=Aizoaceae
|phenology=Flowering year-round, mostly spring–fall.
|habitat=Coastal bluffs, cliffs, ballast dumps, disturbed ground
|elevation=0-100 m
|distribution=Ariz.;Calif.;Pa.;Mexico (Baja California);South America;Europe (Mediterranean);Africa;Atlantic Islands;Australia.
|introduced=true
|reference=vivrette1977a
|publication title=Sp. Pl.
|publication year=1753
|special status=
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/f6b125a955440c0872999024f038d74684f65921/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V4/V4_175.xml
|genus=Mesembryanthemum
|species=Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
}}<!--

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