sea fig
Carpobrotus edulis
Also known as the Hottentot Fig, its leaf juice can be used like Aloe Vera to soothe minor burns and insect bites.
- Scientific name
- Carpobrotus edulis
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Caryophyllales › Aizoaceae › Carpobrotus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Coastal sand dunes, sea cliffs, and rocky outcrops.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic (sunlight, carbon dioxide, and soil nutrients).
- Range
- South Africa, California, Mediterranean Basin, Australia, United Kingdom
- Size
- Trailing stems up to 3 meters long; succulent triangular leaves 6-13 cm in length.
- Lifespan
- Perennial; individual clonal mats can live for several decades.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss in native South Africa; globally considered a major invasive threat to native biodiversity.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. The fruit is edible when soft and yellow, often tasting like salty strawberries. In many regions, this plant is a noxious invasive; avoid planting it or spreading fragments in coastal areas.
Carpobrotus edulis is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus Carpobrotus , native to South Africa. It is also known as Hottentot-fig , ice plant , highway ice plant or pigface and in South Africa as the sour fig ( suurvy ).
Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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