Species name :

Carpobrotus edulis(L.) N. E. Brown
Published in Gen. S. Afr. Fl. Pl. 249 (1926)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Mesembryanthemum edule L.

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Aizooaceae Rudolphi (The Fig-Marigold Family)
16 species from the Aizooaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Hottenot Fig, Kaffir Fig

Maltese name(s) :

Xuxet San Ġwann, Is-Swaba tal-Madonna

Status for Malta :

Casual or accidental alien species introduced in Malta rather recently and which is short-lived or resticted in small populations for a short time without becoming widespread.

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very Rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: CHAMEOPHYTE (dwarf or small shrubs)
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Mar-Oct

Colour of Flowers:

Violet or Yellow

Remarks :

Many reports of this species refer to the closely related species C. acinaciformis where the main differences are in the sepals, ovary and receptacle of the flower, but usually, C. edulis has yellow flowers and C. acinaciformis has purple-magenta flowers. This species is closely related to Carpobrotus acinaciformis which apparently, in local literature there is confusion betwen the two. Conclusive identification relies on dissecting the flower and examine the number of locules and the longitudinal shape of receptacle, however long sepals of about 40-60mm, yellow flowers and straight leaves with equilateral triangular cross section are highly indicative of C. edulis . The variety C. edulis var. rubescens Druce (and perhaps artifial hybrids such as var. chrysophthalmus C.D.Preston & P.D.Sell) has purple flowers hence the colour of flowers is not enough to determine between the two species. Nevertheless, about 95% of the specimens examined, resulted to be C. acinaciformis in Malta, hence the use of C. edulis as the purple-flowering invasive species has to be ammended to C. acinaciformis .

Habitat in Europe:

Cultivated for ornament and naturalized on coastal cliffs and sands, and sometimes inland in disturbed places.

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Casual horticultural escape found in disturbed or degraded areas especially close to the touristic coasts.

Botanical Description:

Stems up to several metres. Leaves not glaucous, not broadening above the middle, tapering gradually to the acute apex; dorsal angle serrulate. Flowers 4-9 cm in diameter; petals yellow, pinkish-purple (var. rubescens Druce, C. acinaciformis auct. eur., non (L.) L. Bolus, Mesembryanthemum acinaciforme auct. eur., non L.) or purple with a yellow base (var. chrysophthalmus C.D. Preston & P.D. Sell); anthers yellow, the filaments yellow or brownish.

Chromosome number:

2n=18

Distributional range:

South Europe

Native region outside Europe:

(Australia)

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

Introduced in Albania, the Azores, the Balaeric Islands, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Corse, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Ireland, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), Portugal, Sicily and/or Malta

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

[nAE AE(G) nAg nAl Az nAz(C F G J L M P S T) Be nBl Bl(I M N) nBr nCa Ca(C F G L P T) nCo Cr aCy nGa(C F) Gr nHb(E N) nHs Hs(S) nIJ nIt nLe nLi LS nLu nMa nMd Md(M P) nSa Si nSi(M S) nSy nTn Tu(A E)]