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Ice Plant

Carpobrotus edulis

Published on Project Noah
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31.7587, -116.627

Field Notes

Description:

Small finger-like succulent leaves extend upwards from the ground. Along the sand on the beach the plant presents a 4-8 across, almost unbroken green chain that extends for miles.

These pictures come form the bird sanctuary on the peninsula where the houses end and the plants are allowed to take over. Here the ice plant claims whole hillsides and cuts paths through small fields of other greenery. Also, more than along the sand, the ice plants here have started to change colors with the onset of the fall season.

Habitat:

Low-lying, sandy terrain.

Reference Links:

EOL: Carpobrotus edulis, Carpobrotus edulis

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (5)
craigwilliams
I wonder if these plants are actually Carpobrotus aequilaterus, which is native to California: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/8093244
craigwilliams
Thank you. I just read your profile and looked at the Actuality Media website. That sounds like a great thing to be involved with.
Curator of Good
In the pictures I posted there isn't much of any other plant species but a few bushes. This was in a bird sanctuary where many hillsides were entirely taken over by the ice plant, but along the guided trail there were actually several other plants - native and non - easily recognizable for the nature trail signs posted in Spanish and English that designated each plant and bird species around.
craigwilliams
Oh boy. This is a problem in the south west of the UK too and I saw it practically leaping from peoples gardens (where it is still very widely cultivated) in Andalucia. Can you see any native plants amongst all this? I'm just wondering what it has muscled out of the picture.
Photographed
PublishedNovember 10, 2011

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