What is aizoaceae?

Aizoaceae is a large family of succulent plants, also called the Fig Marigold family. Most species come from South Africa, but some come from Australia and the Pacific. The family consists of 130 genera containing around 2,500 species. Some types of aizoaceae are sometimes used for food.

All plants in the family are considered succulents, but are very different in size, shape and appearance. Some plants have upright stems, while others are creeping ground plants. The leaves move from short and very dense to long and slim. Flowers can be white, orange, yellow, red, pink or purple, depending on the species. Some species produce only one or two flowers per plant and others produce many. Flowers can be almost imperceptible or large and striking.

Several members of Aizoaceae are commonly known as an ice plant or a sea fig, including Carpobrotus genus and mesembryanthemum crystallinum . Ice Plant gets its name from small transparentCH bladders that cover the stems and leaves of plants, giving the appearance of frozen water. The types of ice plants carpobrotus chilensis were brought to the United States from South Africa to be used to stabilize banks. Ice plants, however, spread rapidly and are invasive, so it also led to the plants to push out native vegetation, especially other species of plants that grow on sand dunes.

The type of plant plants has edible leaves - sometimes they cook and prepare like spinach. Another type of aizoaceae, commonly called spinach in New Zealand, is consumed in almost the same way. The scientific name for New Zealand spinach is tetragonia tetragoniiodes . These "spinach" plants tolerant to much higher temperatures than real spinach - up to 95 ° F (about 35 ° C) - so they are sometimes plantations in tropical places where spinach would not survive. Like spinach can be a New Zealand SPEsat to eat raw or cooked.

Some unusual members of Aizoaceae are in the family litters and are known as Living Stones. Plants lithhops look like a pair of pebbles of the ground, but in fact they consist of two extremely wide leaves that are colored and patterned to resemble stones. Strange leaves not only cause living stones to be less noticeable for the groaning of plant eaters, but are also shaped to protect water by limiting the amount of evaporation that takes place. In autumn or early winter, plants lithhops produce one yellow or white flower for a few leaves.