Northern Beaches FloraBaby Sun Rose Blowfly Grass (Briza maxima) Bottlebrushes Coastal Morning Glory (Ipomoea indica) Cyathea cooperi Grevillea ‘Peaches and Cream’ Grevillea Poorinda Royal Mantle Native Violet Norfolk Pine Ochna Pigface Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Scurvy Weed Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) Spiny-headed Mat-rush
Baby Sun Rose (Mesembryanthemum cordifolium), formerly known as Aptenia cordifolia, is a ground covering succulent plant in the iceplant family, that forms a carpet from a base (sending down shoots as it spreads).
It has fleshy, small leaves that are opposite, ovate to cordate, about 2.5 centimetres long and covered with fine papillae. The stems are round and green. The solitary flowers are a bright pink to almost purplish, that appear in the leaf axils. The flowers open during the day but close up at night, and remain closed on cloudy days. These flowers are not petals, but coloured whorl, being non-functional modified stamens. The normal stamens are yellow.
Native to South Africa. Cultivated as a garden plant, it has become more or less naturalised, in places including South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. It is even found growing in Alice Springs,
Whilst it makes a great ground cover and hanging pot plant, and a popular plant in gardens around Australia, it is also considered/classified as an environmental weed in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.
Common name
Baby Sunrose, Heart-leaved Iceplant, Heart-leaf Ice Plant, Variegated Heartleaf.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Tracheophyta
- Subphylum: Angiospermae
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Order: Caryophyllales
- Family: Aizoaceae
- Subfamily: Mesembryanthemoideae
- Genus: Mesembryanthemum
- Subgenus: Phyllobolus
- Section: Geniculiflora
- Species: Mesembryanthemum cordifolium
Footnote & References
- Heart-leaf Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum cordifolium), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/589815-Mesembryanthemum-cordifolium
Northern Beaches FloraBaby Sun Rose Blowfly Grass (Briza maxima) Bottlebrushes Coastal Morning Glory (Ipomoea indica) Cyathea cooperi Grevillea ‘Peaches and Cream’ Grevillea Poorinda Royal Mantle Native Violet Norfolk Pine Ochna Pigface Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Scurvy Weed Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) Spiny-headed Mat-rush
Northern BeachesNorthern Beaches Fauna Northern Beaches Flora
New South WalesBarunguba Montague Island Bourke Blue Mountains Bundeena Central Coast Kosciuszko National Park Mount Kaputar National Park Lower North Shore Northern Beaches Sapphire Coast Snowy Mountains Region South Coast Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden Sydney