Description

Carpobrotus edulis is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus Carpobrotus, native to South Africa. It is also referred to by some as “Hottentot-fig”^[1](though this nickname is considered a racist term^[2]), ice plant, highway ice plant, or pigface, and in South Africa as the sour fig (suurvygie in Afrikaans).

It was previously classified in Mesembryanthemum and is sometimes referred to by this name: Mesembryanthemum edule.

Carpobrotus edulis is a creeping, mat-forming succulent species and member of the fig-marigold family, Aizoaceae, one of about 30 species in the genus Carpobrotus.

C. edulis is easily confused with its close relatives, including the more diminutive and less aggressive Carpobrotus chilensis (sea fig), with which it hybridizes readily. C. edulis can, however, be distinguished from most of its relatives by the size and colour of its flowers. The large, 2.5 to 6 inches (64 to 152 mm) diameter flowers of C. edulis are yellow or light pink, whereas the smaller, 1.5 to 2.5 inches (38 to 64 mm) diameter C. chilensis flowers are deep magenta. On the flowers, two of the calyx lobes are longer, extending further than the petals.

The leaves of C. edulis are only very slightly curved and have serrated sides near the tips.^[3]

Plant Care and Cultivation of Carpobrotus edulis

It needs well-drained soil, a sunny position, and room to spread. It is an excellent evergreen, drought- and wind-resistant groundcover; it can be planted on flat, sandy ground, on loose sand dunes, lime-rich and brackish soils, and gravelly gardens, as well as in containers, rockeries, and embankments, and will cascade over terrace walls.

Distribution of Carpobrotus edulis

The sour fig grows on coastal and inland slopes from Namaqualand in the Northern Cape through the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape. It is often seen as a pioneer in disturbed sites.

Ecology of Carpobrotus edulis

Flowers are pollinated by solitary bees, honey bees, carpenter bees, and many beetle species. Leaves are eaten by tortoises. Flowers are eaten by antelopes and baboons. Fruits are eaten by baboons, rodents, porcupines, antelopes, who also disperse the seeds. The clumps provide shelter for snails, lizards, and skinks. Puff adders and other snakes, such as the Cape cobra, are often found in Carpobrotus clumps, where they ambush the small rodents attracted by the fruits.^[4]

Growth of Carpobrotus edulis

Ice plants grow year round, with individual shoot segments growing more than 3 ft (1 m) per year.[citation needed] Ice plants can grow to at least 165 ft (50 m) in diameter.

Flowers are produced mainly during late winter-spring (August–October). They open in the morning in bright sunlight, and close at night.^[4]

Uses of the sour fig or suurvygie

Its leaves are edible, as are its fruit, as with some other members of the family Aizoaceae. In South Africa the sour fig’s ripe fruit are gathered and either eaten fresh or made into a very tart jam.

Mainly practiced in South Africa, the different parts of the Carpobrotus edulis are used in different forms in traditional medicine. Mostly, the fruits and flowers are eaten raw or cooked for fungal and bacterial infections.^[5] The leaves can be ingested orally for digestive problems or the juice can be sucked out to help a sore throat.^[6] The juice can also be mixed into a lotion base and used for external issues such as ringworm, bruises, sunburns, and cracked lips.^[6]

Rutin, neohesperidin, hyperoside, catechin and ferulic acid can be found in C. edulis, and contribute to the antibacterial^[7] properties of the plant. It also contains procyanidins and propelargonidins.^[8]

Plants Shop Africa can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Thank you for visiting Plant Shop Africa

We appreciate you reading the information we have compiled about this plant. We hope you enjoyed it!

If you know of some information relating to this plant that we have omitted, or perhaps you noticed a specific detail that could be improved; then we would love to hear from you.

You can purchase this plant, and many others, anytime in our online store (provided stock is available).

We’ll get your new plants securely and conveniently delivered to you anywhere in South Africa.

References

1.  “BSBI List 2007”. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
2.  Hauptfleisch, D.C. “Racist Language in Society and in Dictionaries: A Pragmatic Perspective”. Lexikos. 3: 99.
3.  “Medicinal plants of Fernkloof”. Archived from the originalon 2012-07-29.
4.  “Carpobrotus edulis(L.) L.Bolus”.
5.  Mudimba, Toonse (2019). “Traditional uses, phytochemiscy and pharmacoligcal activity of Carpobrotus eduilis: A global perspective” (PDF). The Journal of Phytopharmacology 2019: 111. doi:10.31254/phyto.2019.8305.
6.  “Carpobrotus edulis – Useful Tropical Plants”. tropical.theferns.info. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
7.  Purification and identification of active antibacterial components in Carpobrotusedulis L. Elmarie van der Watt and Johan C Pretorius, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, June 2001, Volume 76, Issue 1, Pages 87–91, doi:10.1016/S0378-8741(01)00197-0
8.  LC/ESI-MS/MS characterisation of procyanidins and propelargonidins responsible for the strong antioxidant activity of the edible halophyte Mesembryanthemum edule L. Hanen Falleh, Samia Oueslati, Sylvain Guyot, Alia Ben Dali, Christian Magné, Chedly Abdelly and Riadh Ksouri, doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.02.049

Notice of Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License:
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Carpobrotus edulis”, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.