Talk:Carpobrotus edulis

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 26 August 2020 and 31 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Iabarno.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 16:51, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Is the image correct?

I've found pointers suggesting that the flower of Carpobrotus edulis is yellow. The image is red, and it looks pretty much like Carpobrotus glaucescens or Carpobrotus rossii. Groogle (talk) 02:16, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Mabberley (The Pamnt Book) indicates that the corolla of Carpobrotus edulis is "yellow to purple". Such variation is more common among members of the Caryophyllales than among members of other flowering plant groups, since both the yellow and purple betalains that provide the color in these plants are synthesized by much the same chemical pathways. The second image at the article on betalains shows two color forms of Swiss chard, one with yellow leaf stalks and the other with purple ones. --EncycloPetey (talk) 03:58, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Addendum: The Jepson Manual (Flora of California) indicates that species naturalized there have flowers that are "pink to yellow aging pink". --EncycloPetey (talk) 05:07, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

I think what the page means by the flowers are "recognizable" by their yellow color is that no other Carpobrotus has yellow flowers. If you see the pale yellow flowers you recognize the species. A number of authorities list the color as yellow aging to pink due to the addition of the betalain. I cannot find an on-line authority for this and don't have botanical literature. It's something I read while trying to research the plant in its native habitat. IMO it would be better to have a pale yellow flower in the taxobox. --69.225.2.24 (talk) 06:50, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

For the taxobox image, I've substituted a photo of a yellow-flowered plant from its homeland in South Africa, which has a more certain provenance. Melburnian (talk) 07:31, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Why the plant was planted in CA: another story

Why was this plant ("iceplant") planted (other than ornamental use) in California? The account given in ref. 7 (Au's article) mentions stabilizing sand dunes, and roadside ground cover. I found one of Au's references on line; it was properly used; so I added it as a ref. here.

However, there is a different reason that I've heard. In 1942, there was considerable fear among Californians about attacks on the coastline by Japanese military forces. According to this story, iceplant was planted to make coastlines more resistant to assault. Iceplant stays close to the ground, and therefore provides good sight lines for coastal defenders. Also, it's hard to walk on. And of course it grows easily. This story may well be mythical, so I'm not now adding it to the article. Oaklandguy (talk) 01:16, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

@Oaklandguy: is that published anywhere? It seems plausible except for the part about being hard to walk on; no problem if you're wearing combat boots. ~Anachronist (talk) 21:39, 26 January 2019 (UTC)

@Anachronist: Is it published? If so, I don't know where. But iceplant's utility for military defense of a shoreline may not have had much to do with being hard to walk on. I think as much as anything, the idea was to prevent other, taller vegetation from growing. The idea was (or would have been), that tall vegetation would make the enemy soldier harder to see. Oaklandguy (talk) 01:58, 8 February 2019 (UTC)