ice plant

noun

1. a plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, native to the Mediterranean region, having fleshy leaves that are covered with glistening vesicles and are sometimes eaten as greens.

ice plant

noun

1. a low-growing plant, Mesembryanthemum (or Cryophytum ) crystallinum, of southern Africa, with fleshy leaves covered with icelike hairs and pink or white rayed flowers: family Aizoaceae

Word History and Origins

Origin of ice plant¹

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

Other spectators soon crunched across the ice plants and joined us on our perch.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They also had to acquire a permit to put the ice plant on a sidewalk alongside South Royal Brougham Way in order to run the ice pipes in through the concourse and the bullpen.

Read more on Seattle Times

The vivid green grass on the foothills, the pops of fuchsia blossoms in thickets of coastal ice plant, the yellow flowers of black mustard: None of it is native to Southern California.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Through volunteers manually weeding the plants, covering dense patches with black plastic to kill it and selectively applying water-safe herbicides, the park has managed to greatly reduce the ice plant population.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The ice plant was built when the borough was booming, at the turn of the last century.

Read more on New York Times