r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/wallerhilliard • Dec 08 '22

🔥 Sea Fig holding the dunes down against the wind, waves, and rain.

Post image
153 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

7

u/bryangcrane Dec 08 '22 edited Dec 08 '22

Isn’t that just ice plant? I grew up on the California coast and we called it ice plant.

5

u/riskbuy Dec 08 '22

Yes, and they're highly invasive.

2

u/bryangcrane Dec 08 '22

True. Super hardy and strangles out everything else

3

u/nunziavaer543210 Dec 09 '22

it carpets the flower, its from the aizocae family, unlike its other relatives these are pretty hardy, the others are more finicky in its growth.

0

u/wallerhilliard Dec 08 '22

Sometimes a bad thing but if you are fighting coastal erosion it can be a good thing too...

2

u/riskbuy Dec 08 '22

Costal restoration is better though. Remove the invasives, and plant natives.

2

u/emprameen Dec 11 '22

They were introduced intentionally, but according to Wikipedia they actually exacerbate erosion.

2

u/wallerhilliard Dec 08 '22

Similar but slightly different than the Sea Fig.

2

u/bryangcrane Dec 08 '22

Okay! Interesting

2

u/Open_and_shut_1K Dec 09 '22 edited Dec 09 '22

They are a very cool plant. The fruit is edible and nutritious although very salty. Nothing at all like a fig, not closely related. They are a native here in Australia. The common name is Pig Face. My local variety is Carpobrotus virescens which that could be as it looks the same. The plant is from the Aizoaceae family.

5

u/wallerhilliard Dec 08 '22

Marina Dunes Preserve, California

2

u/bryangcrane Dec 08 '22

Absolutely beautiful though! :-)

2

u/waterseabreeze Dec 08 '22

Incredibly beautiful

2

u/BisonBravey Dec 09 '22

In Australia we call this Pig Face. No I have no idea why.

1

u/wallerhilliard Dec 09 '22

Pigface, ice plant, sour fig, Hottentot fig, and clawberry; so many fun names!

2

u/whattheduck2222 Dec 09 '22

69th upvote, nice