Carpobrotus edulis – common names of hottentot-fig, sour fig, ice plant, lions claw or highway ice plant – is a perennial ground creeping plant with thick succulent leaves like cactus.
The stem can grow up to 2m long with light green waxy textured triangular leaves sometimes being purple at the end.
Their fabulous flowers are similar to daisies in shape, which grow between 6-9cm in diameter with plenty petals in purple, yellow or orange, that blossom from May and June.
The plants favour the warmer climates, especially on the Costa Blanca South thriving during droughts, and on salty sandy soils, and used for stabilising dunes and slopes along the coastline.
They reproduce aggressively through runners or stolons, like grass, by forming roots on the stem nodes and can quickly cover the ground which can be invasive.
Their flowers are very attractive to insects, which perform pollination, so they also successfully reproduce by seeds.
The ripe fruit are eaten by seagulls and small mammals, such as rabbits, which help scatter seeds through their droppings.
