Aizoon, Spanish aizoon,
Hebrew: חייעד ספרדי, Arabic: مليح, اصبع العروس, يشاند
| Scientific name: | Aizoon hispanicum L. | |
| Synonym name: | Aizoanthemum hispanicum (L.) H.E.K.Hartmann | |
| Common name: | Spanish aizoon | |
| Hebrew name: | חייעד ספרדי | |
| Arabic name: | مليح, اصبع العروس, يشاند | |
| Family: | Aizoaceae, חיעדיים |
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| Life form: | Annual | |
| Succulence: | Stem + leaf succulent | |
| Stems: | Branches trail on the ground | |
| Leaves: | Opposite, entire, lanceolate, smooth margin | |
| Flowers: | Hermaphrodite; 5 white, green petals, sessile | |
| Fruits / pods: | Hygrochastic capsules with an ombrohydrochoric seeddispersal mechanism which in part are also responsible for the remarkable speciation burst and radiation. The highly complex capsules open when wet, and the seeds are expelled by a ‘jetaction’ with the kinetic energy of raindrops. The halves of the covering membranes of a locule form a nozzle near the centre of the capsule which serves as a jet. Drops of water falling on the distal opening (after the locule has been filled with water) result in an explosive expulsion of water droplets and seeds through that jet. More seeds are dispersed further away from the capsule than in those capsule types without such a jet mechanism. | |
| Flowering Period: | February, March, April, May | |
| Habitat: | Sand | |
| Distribution: | Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts | |
| Chorotype: | Saharo-Arabian | |
| Summer shedding: | Ephemeral |
Derivation of the botanical name: Aizoon, αειζωον, from 'ever living,' evergreen. hispanicum, Spanish.
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