WorldFloraDB - Mesembryanthemum cordifolium

Characteristics

A succulent creeper. It grows 5 cm high and spreads 40-100 cm wide. The leaves are fleshy and heart shaped. They are 1-2 cm long. The leaves are covered with felty hairs. The flowers are 2 cm across. The are deep red to scarlet. They are yellow or white in the centre. The flowers only open when the sun shines.

More

Perennial, scrambling, prostrate, mat-forming or weakly erect, succulent herb, up to 0.25 m high. Stems 4-angled. Leaves opposite, flat, heart-shaped with glassy bladder cells. Flowers pink, up to 20 mm diam. Flowering time Dec.-Apr. Capsules without valve wings.

Leaves never ‘skeletonized’. Prostrate, mat-forming perennial with 4-angled stems. Leaves flat, heart-shaped. Flowers magenta, 20 mm diam. Fruits without valve wings.

Life form

perennial

Growth form

herb

Growth support

free-standing

Foliage retention

evergreen

Sexuality

-

Pollination

-

Spread

-

Mature width (meter)

0.25 - 0.75

Mature height (meter)

0.25

Root system

-

Rooting depth (meter)

-

Root diameter (meter)

-

Flower color

Blooming months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Fruit color

-

Fruiting months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Nitrogen fixer

-

Photosynthetic pathway

-

Environment

It is a warm temperate to subtropical plant. It is native to Southern Africa. It suits hardiness zones 9-11. It needs moisture in hot weather and can withstand dry in cool weather. It suits a gritty, well drained soil. It needs full sun. It grows on sand and in disturbed coastal heath. Melbourne Botanical Gardens.

Light
Soil humidity
Soil texture
Soil acidity
Soil nutriment
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

Uses	environmental use leaf vegetable medicinal ornamental
Edible	flowers leaves
Therapeutic use	-
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

It is grown by short tip cuttings. These root easily.

Mode	cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	-
Minimum temperature (C°)	-12
Optimum temperature (C°)	-
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-