Common name(s): Sea Fig, Ice Plant, Chilean Sea Fig

Family: Aizoaceae - Stone Plant Family

Species: Carpobrotus chilensis

Commonly found: Found in coastal dunes, foredunes and back dunes, coastal grasslands, chaparrals, coastal bluff scrubs, sandy shores, rocky seashores, margins of estuaries, and along roadsides.

Size: Flowers are 1.25" to 2" in diameter

Origin: Invasive. May have been introduced during California's Spanish contact era.

Description: Ice Plants' flowers open in the morning and close at night, and can bloom and fruit year-round. The fruit has 8–10 chambres. Ice plant is highly invasive.  It now inhabits coastal scrub, grasslands, chaparral, bluffs, dunes, and beaches, where it creates dense mats that increase soil organic matter over time, allowing new non-native species to invade. Ice Plant propagates by seed and vegetatively. Even small stem fragments can regenerate into a new plant, making population control difficult.