Mesembryaceæ

Mesembryaceæ, or FICOIDEÆ, a natural order of calycifloral dicotyledonous plants, comprising succulent shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals with opposite leaves. In many species the latter are of curious and fantastic shape, especially in those of the typical genus Mesembryanthemum. The order contains sixteen genera and over 400 species, the larger number of the latter belonging to Mesembryanthemum. They are inhabitants of warm regions chiefly, most of them being found at the Cape of Good Hope and in the South Sea Islands. The typical genus is also the most important in regard to utility and beauty. It furnishes the Ice Plant (q.v.) of our gardens, and many other beautiful and curious species are to be met with in our greenhouses. M. nodiflorum is employed in the manufacture of Morocco leather, and furnishes abundance of alkali. The Kou of the Hottentots is M. emarcidum, the roots, stems, and leaves of which they collect and beat and twist together, and then ferment, for the purpose of chewing to allay thirst. If chewed immediately after fermentation it is narcotic and intoxicating. It is the Cauna Root of the Cape colonists. The Hottentot's Fig (M. edule) is abundant on the sandy plains of the Cape of Good Hope, and the fruit is eaten when ripe. The leaves are eaten also when young and fresh, and when somewhat older are pickled in vinegar. The juice of the plant has some reputation as a cure for dysentery and thrush in children, and as an external application for burns. The fruit of M. equilaterale is named Pigs'-faces in Australia, and is eaten by the natives; that of M. geniculiflorum is ground into flour in Africa and made into bread, as is that of the Ice Plant. The Flower of Crete is the seed-vessel of M. tripolum, which in the rainy season expands in the form of a star, allowing the seeds to escape. The name should be spelled Mesembriaceæ, as it is from the Gr. mesēmbria, 'mid-day,' because the flowers bloom usually at mid-day.