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MaltaWildPlants.com by Stephen Mifsud |
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External Links: |
Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum (Lesser Crystal Ice Plant) |
Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum (AIZOOACEAE.) Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands at or after year 2000. |
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Nomenclature and Basic Information |
Species name : |
Mesembryanthemum nodiflorumL. Published in Sp. Pl. 480 (1753) | Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.) |
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Plant Family : | Aizooaceae
Rudolphi (The Fig-Marigold Family) 16 species from the Aizooaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands. | English name(s) : | Lesser Crystal Ice Plant, Round-leaved Mesembryanthemum | Maltese name(s) : | Kristallina tal-blat, Kristallina żgħira, Kristallina komuni | Status for Malta : | Indigenous. Present on the Maltese islands before man | Frequency : | Very Common Common
[Frequent] Scarce Rare
Very rare Extinct
| Growth form : |
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: THEROPHYTE (annuals)
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 : | Apr-Jul | Colour of Flowers: | White or Yellow | Remarks : | A trailing succulent plant found growing close to the coast, preferring calcareous soil near globigerina limestone rockbed. Differes from Mesembryanthemum crystallinum by having succulent finger-shaped leaves, and distinctly smaller flowers. |
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Species Description and Distribution |
Habitat in Europe: |
Coastal sands and salt-marshes, somewhat prefers dry, non-vegetated limestone beds. |
Preferred habitat in Malta: |
Dirt and shallow compact sandy soil near the coast. Seems to prefer Globigerina limestone. |
Botanical Description: |
More or less procumbent annual, 3-20 cm. Leaves narrowly oblong, subterete, obtuse, glaucous and slightly crystalline-papillose. Flowers terminal and axillary, solitary, subsessile. Petals shorter than the sepals, yellowish or white. Stigmas 5. Ovary inferior; capsule with 5 valves, winged on the angles |
Chromosome number: |
2n=18 |
Distributional range: |
W. & C. Mediterranean region |
Distributional map in Europe and the Mediterranean region (2018):
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Occurrences in Europe. (from Flora Europaea pre year 1993): |
the Balaeric Islands, Corse, Crete, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Introduced in  the Azores, Portugal |
Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region. (Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) -
Country codes |
AE(G) Ag Bl(I M N) Ca dCa(C F G H L P T) Co Cr Ct Cy Eg Ga(F) Gr Hs(G S) Ir It Le Li Lu Ma Md(D M) Sa Sg Si(M S) Sn Sy Tn Tu(A) [Az aAz(G T) aFe aGe aSu] |
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Submit further info on this species |
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