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Aizoales
Year 2025, Issue 2, Article 3RemedyAuthor: Susanne Villedieu
Barbora Horváthová
Martine Ordelman
IntroductionThe Aizoaceae family consists of annual or perennial plants. Their external appearance is very similar to cacti and other succulents. They can be found as herbaceous plants, subshrubs, or shrubs. They all have radially symmetrical flowers with 3-8 (usually 5) sepals and usually numerous stamens. This plant family is also known as the ice plant. The flowers open in bright sunlight at midday.
The plants are considered an extremely undemanding and hardy environment. They prefer to grow in dry, hot deserts and steppes of the southern hemisphere. They can also be found in humid coastal regions with highly saline soils, and occasionally in barren mountainous areas. They can cope very well with these harsh conditions and rarely dry out. Only their flowering time and endurance are affected by drought. They bloom profusely in spring, and their flowering power diminishes over the course of the year. We observed plants saturated with morning dew and only completely drying out during very severe and very long dry periods. The plants store their water. The plants use their predominantly fleshy, green-gray leaves for this purpose.
The plants are considered an extremely undemanding and hardy environment. They prefer to grow in dry, hot deserts and steppes of the southern hemisphere. They can also be found in humid coastal regions with highly saline soils, and occasionally in barren mountainous areas. They can cope very well with these harsh conditions and rarely dry out. Only their flowering time and endurance are affected by drought. They bloom profusely in spring, and their flowering power diminishes over the course of the year. We observed plants saturated with morning dew and only completely drying out during very severe and very long dry periods. The plants store their water. The plants use their predominantly fleshy, green-gray leaves for this purpose.