The Aizoaceae (), or fig-marigold family, are a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1,800 species. Several genera are commonly named ice plants or carpet weeds. The Aizoaceae are also referred to as vygies in South Africa. Some of the unusual Southern African genera—such as Conophytum, Lithops, Titanopsis, and Pleiospilos (among others)—resemble gemstones, rocks, or pebbles, and are sometimes called living stones or mesembs (short for mesembryanthemums).
Description
Mesembryanthemum guerichianum seedling, showing the epidermal bladder cells that inspired the name "ice plant"
Pronunciation of the South African colloquial name, Vygie, for Aizoaceae
The family Aizoaceae is widely recognised by taxonomists. It once went by the botanical name "Ficoidaceae", now disallowed. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998) also recognizes the family, and assigns it to the order Caryophyllales in the clade core eudicots. The APG II system also classes the former families Mesembryanthemaceae Fenzl, Sesuviaceae Horan. and Tetragoniaceae Link under the family Aizoaceae.
The common Afrikaans name "vygie" meaning "small fig" refers to the fruiting capsule, which resembles the true fig. Glistening epidermal bladder cells give the family its common name "ice plants".
Most fig-marigolds are herbaceous, rarely somewhat woody, with sympodial growth and stems either erect or prostrate. Leaves are simple, opposite or alternate, and more or less succulent with entire (or rarely toothed) margins. Flowers are perfect in most species (but unisexual in some), actinomorphic, and appear singularly or in few-flowered cymes developing from the leaf axils. Sepals are typically five (3–8) and more or less connate (fused) below. True petals are absent. However, some species have numerous linear petals derived from staminodes. The seed capsules have one to numerous seeds per cell and are often...
