Hebrew: אהל הגבישים, Arabic: مصنع الثلج المشترك
| Scientific name: | Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. | |
| Common name: | Ice Plant, Diamond Ficoides | |
| Hebrew name: | אהל הגבישים | |
| Arabic name: | مصنع الثلج المشترك | |
| Plant Family: | Aizoaceae, חיעדיים |
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| Life form: | Annual | |
| Succulence: | leaves + stems + bladders (glistening bladder cells or water vesicles) | |
| Stems: | Trailing, dichotomously (=repeated branching into two equal parts) branched, to 1 m | |
| Leaves: | Alternate, opposite, entire, flat, ovate to spoon-shaped | |
| Inflorescence: | Cyme or flower axillary, ± sessile | |
| Flowers: | 7-10 mm in diameter, white, aging pink,20-40 petals, connate into tube; 30 stamens | |
| Fruits / pods: | Capsules coarsely papillate; Seeds, rough with minute tubercles | |
| Flowering Period: | February, March, April, May, June | |
| Habitat: | Mediterranean strand | |
| Distribution: | The Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands | |
| Chorotype: | Med - Euro-Siberian | |
| Summer shedding: | Ephemeral |
Derivation of the botanical name: Mesembryanthemum , mesembrianthemum, Greek, mesembria, "midday"; anthemon, "flower"; in allusion to the fact that the only species then known all bloomed at noon. When species of other habits became known, the genus was renamed mesembryanthemum. As now spelled, the derivation is mesos, "middle"; embryon, "fruit"; anthemon, "flower." crystallinum, κρύσταλλος, krustallos, “ice"; crystalline, transparant. The Hebrew name:אהל, ohol, of uncertain origin. Perhaps borrowed from agaruh, aguruh (=aloewood), which are probably Greek aloe (= aloe), is probably a Hebrew loan word.
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