Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum), an annual herbaceous plant, a native of Africa and of the south of Europe, remarkable for the watery vesicles (papulae) with which its whole surface is covered, and which have the appearance of granules of ice, and sparkle in the same manner in the sun. It is common as a tender annual in our greenhouses, and grows in the open garden during summer; the leaves are used for garnishing dishes. The expressed juice of the plant has been greatly extolled as a remedy for diseases of the mucous membrane of the lungs and urinary passages, and also for dropsy. The seeds are used for food in the Madeira Islands. The ashes supply barilla, and the plant is burned on this account in countries where it abounds. The plant is valuable for extracting soda, potash, and other alkaline salts from unproductive soils, rendering them fit for culture. It is so used in the south of France.