Kay Easton wrote in
:

In article ,
Victoria Clare writes
Kay Easton wrote in
:

It's the annual 'livingstone daisy' ( I thought the others were
perennials: am I wrong?)

They're all perennial, aren't they, given a warm enough winter?

I don't think so. At any rate, mine flowered, went to seed, and died
while it was still warm.


Just surprised that a plant goes to all that trouble of producing
fleshy leaves if it's an annual, or, conversely, that it lives in the
sort of conditions where it has to produce fleshy leaves if it is an
annual. Not logical, I suppose - something has to fill the niche of
'make lots of seeds in the hope that one of them may find a bit of
clear ground where it can shoot up and make lots of seeds all in one
season'.


Mine didn't do that, but then I was deadheading the poor things. Only
one poor seed germinated (though maybe more will in spring!)

I am still hopeful that mine will make it through and flower. I checked
it over this weekend - it definitely has flower buds on it, despite
Sunday's frost!

Pretty sure it *is* a livingston daisy: there are certainly no Hottentot
Figs or similar naturalised round here, and the seeds are pretty chunky
to have travelled all the way from the coast under their own steam.

Victoria

In article 0,
Victoria Clare writes
"Franz Heymann" wrote in
:

That's not what the RHS Encyclopaedia says - assuming you mean the old
A-Z, which I also have.

It says the varieties *that are are now Dorotheanthus* are annuals.

the trouble with relying on the RHS Encyclopaedia is - what definition
of annual does it use? Does it mean the plant is annual in its natural
habitat, or does it mean (as I suspect) that the plant is treated as an
annual here because it won't survive the winter?

I've dived in to my (rather old) bible - 'Flowering Plants of the World,
Heywood (ed), which isn't much help! - 'The Aizoaceae (1) are annual or
perennial herbs or small shrubs'. But there is a lot of other
interesting information: eg other members - Frithia, Fenestraria etc
live partially buried with only the tips of their leaves showing, and
the tips of the leaves have a layer of tissue rich in calcium oxalate to
filter the sun before it reaches the photosynthesising cells below. many
of the family have 'crassulacean acid metabolism' which I can't remember
in detail, but has eveolved independently in different families of
desert plants and IIRC allows them to (relatively) shut down during the
day and do most of their work at nigh - someone, please remind me!

Finally, Carprobotus edulis is called the Hottentot Fig because it
produces an edible berry - Victoria - have you ever seen that on the
cliff populations?

(1) the family which mesembryanthemum belongs to.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Kay Easton wrote in news:zdFt3gDo$RDAFwV9
@scarboro.demon.co.uk:

Finally, Carprobotus edulis is called the Hottentot Fig because it
produces an edible berry - Victoria - have you ever seen that on the
cliff populations?

I haven't, but then I haven't been here all that long.

I recognised the name because I was considering growing it from seed this
year (it fell off the shortlist in the end).

Victoria

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:184233

In article ,
(Victoria Clare) wrote:

They're all perennial, aren't they, given a warm enough winter?

I don't think so.

Mine has lived indoors for two winters now.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:184233

In article ,
(Victoria Clare) wrote:

They're all perennial, aren't they, given a warm enough winter?

I don't think so.

Mine has lived indoors for two winters now.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:184233

In article ,
(Victoria Clare) wrote:

They're all perennial, aren't they, given a warm enough winter?

I don't think so.

Mine has lived indoors for two winters now.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:184233

In article ,
(Victoria Clare) wrote:

They're all perennial, aren't they, given a warm enough winter?

I don't think so.

Mine has lived indoors for two winters now.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

In 'Mesembs of the World', by Smith et al., Briza Publications, 1998,
South Africa, the authors say that the term 'Mesembs' is a popular
term used for succulent members of the family Aizoacea, sometimes
placed in a family of their own, the Mesembryanthemaceae. Within this
family there are 123 genera, each of which may contain from a few to
several dozen species.

One of those genera is Dorotheanthus (named in part after Dorothea,
the wife of Prof. G. Schwantes, an early Mesemb expert). They occur in
the winter rainfall area of South Africa, i.e. Cape Province, both on
the coast and as far inland as Namaqualand.

The genus Dorotheanthus contains 10 species, one of which is D.
bellidiformis subsp. bellidiformis, commonly known as 'Livingstone
daisy', occasionally as 'ice plant'.

They say that all the species in this genus are dwarf annual herbs,
and that D.b.bellidiformis is a well-known and popular garden annual,
grown in many parts of the world. Whether it will survive for more
than a year when grown away from it's natural habitat, they don't say.

I hope this helps dispel any confusion.

PS On the cliffs inland from the north end of Loe bar, near Helston,
there are vast carpets of Carpobrotus edulis, and they do fruit, but
I've not tried eating them.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

In 'Mesembs of the World', by Smith et al., Briza Publications, 1998,
South Africa, the authors say that the term 'Mesembs' is a popular
term used for succulent members of the family Aizoacea, sometimes
placed in a family of their own, the Mesembryanthemaceae. Within this
family there are 123 genera, each of which may contain from a few to
several dozen species.

One of those genera is Dorotheanthus (named in part after Dorothea,
the wife of Prof. G. Schwantes, an early Mesemb expert). They occur in
the winter rainfall area of South Africa, i.e. Cape Province, both on
the coast and as far inland as Namaqualand.

The genus Dorotheanthus contains 10 species, one of which is D.
bellidiformis subsp. bellidiformis, commonly known as 'Livingstone
daisy', occasionally as 'ice plant'.

They say that all the species in this genus are dwarf annual herbs,
and that D.b.bellidiformis is a well-known and popular garden annual,
grown in many parts of the world. Whether it will survive for more
than a year when grown away from it's natural habitat, they don't say.

I hope this helps dispel any confusion.

PS On the cliffs inland from the north end of Loe bar, near Helston,
there are vast carpets of Carpobrotus edulis, and they do fruit, but
I've not tried eating them.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

In 'Mesembs of the World', by Smith et al., Briza Publications, 1998,
South Africa, the authors say that the term 'Mesembs' is a popular
term used for succulent members of the family Aizoacea, sometimes
placed in a family of their own, the Mesembryanthemaceae. Within this
family there are 123 genera, each of which may contain from a few to
several dozen species.

One of those genera is Dorotheanthus (named in part after Dorothea,
the wife of Prof. G. Schwantes, an early Mesemb expert). They occur in
the winter rainfall area of South Africa, i.e. Cape Province, both on
the coast and as far inland as Namaqualand.

The genus Dorotheanthus contains 10 species, one of which is D.
bellidiformis subsp. bellidiformis, commonly known as 'Livingstone
daisy', occasionally as 'ice plant'.

They say that all the species in this genus are dwarf annual herbs,
and that D.b.bellidiformis is a well-known and popular garden annual,
grown in many parts of the world. Whether it will survive for more
than a year when grown away from it's natural habitat, they don't say.

I hope this helps dispel any confusion.

PS On the cliffs inland from the north end of Loe bar, near Helston,
there are vast carpets of Carpobrotus edulis, and they do fruit, but
I've not tried eating them.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net