The nature of things

Hottentot fig

SOME patches of coastline, chiefly in the South and West, are carpeted with a flamboyant plant that invites closer inspection. Carpobrotus edulis, the Hottentot fig, is so called because this plant, native to South Africa’s Cape regions, bears edible, superficially fig-like fruits. It was first brought here as an ornamental and tender curiosity and has been cultivated here for centuries. Nobody knows quite when it escaped from gardens, but, where winters are mild enough, it thrives and spreads from year to year, both vegetatively and by seed dispersal, with wild animals able to distribute seed further, after eating the ripened fruits.

Forming dense, ground-hugging mats that tumble over rocks and cliff-faces, its surface-spreading stems hold aloft angular, fleshy leaves resembling chips, each about 3in–4in long. Floating just above them through the growing season are numerous big, daisy flowers of startling bright pink or yellow-to-cream.

Numerous insects, including solitary bees and honeybees, enjoy foraging the flowers, which, like many of their compatriots, open wide in bright daylight, but close up again well before nightfall.

People have found various uses for the plant: the leaves are edible and have antibacterial properties used in mouthwash and their juice squeezed onto the skin is said to ease jellyfish stings, mosquito bites and sunburn, along the lines that you might otherwise use Aloe vera juice. KBH