[Scpg] is ice plant a good edible permaculture plant?

[LBUZZELL at aol.com]

Iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis aka Hottentot Fig) has a bad  reputation in 
California these days, although its usefulness was much  valued by our 
grandparents' generation.  It's an  attractive, low-growing groundcover plant now 
considered invasive and  governments are spending a lot of money ripping it 
out and replacing it  with native plants.
 
But perhaps from a permaculture point of view it's worth another look? It's 
 an amazing plant that performs multiple useful functions. 
    *   Yields an edible fruit which has been eaten by humans  since 
archeological times. Fruit is fleshy, 35 mm in diameter, shaped  like a spinning 
top, on a winged stalk, becoming yellow and fragrant when  ripe. The outer 
wall of the fruit becomes yellowish, wrinkled and leathery  with age. The 
seeds are embedded in the sticky, sweet, jelly-like mucilage.  The fruits can be 
eaten fresh and they have a strong, astringent, salty, sour  taste. They 
are not as tasty as those of C.  acinaciformis (purple iceplant, can be used 
to make delicious jam)  and C. deliciosus (purple or pink iceplant) which are 
sweeter. See _http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/carpobed.htm_ 
(http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/carpobed.htm)     
    *   Edible by some wildlife as well. Flowers draw bees and  are also 
eaten by animals. In S. Africa, leaves are eaten by tortoises.   
    *   Holds water and thus is an effective fire-resistant  barrier around 
house or in foothills in fire-prone areas. 
    *   Drought tolerant 
    *   A coastal plant 
    *   Low maintenance. Vigorous and will grow where little  else wants to 
grow 
    *   Wind resistant 
    *   Controls erosion by binding hillsides, stabilizing  sandy dunes.  
    *   Shallow-rooting so good for roof gardens 
    *   Like most succulents, a useful "living mulch"  groundcover. 
    *   "Can be planted on flat, sandy ground, on loose sand dunes, 
gravelly  gardens, lime-rich and brackish soils as well as in containers, 
rockeries,  embankments and will cascade over terrace walls."  
    *   Pretty yellow flowers and attractive rusty coloration  even when 
not in bloom (you can see its autumnal-toned beauty in many  paintings of 
coastal California scenes). 
    *   Has medicinal uses and is a first-aid plant. "The leaf  juice is 
astringent and mildly antiseptic. It is mixed with water and  swallowed to 
treat diarrhea, dysentery and stomach cramps, and is used as a  gargle to 
relieve laryngitis, sore throat and mouth infections. Chewing a leaf  tip and 
swallowing the juice is enough to ease a sore throat. Leaf juice or a  crushed 
leaf is a famous soothing cure for blue-bottle stings - being a  coastal 
plant it is luckily often on hand in times of such emergencies. The  leaf juice 
is used as a soothing lotion for burns, bruises, scrapes, cuts,  grazes and 
sunburn, ringworm, eczema, dermatitis, sunburn, herpes, nappy rash,  
thrush, cold sores, cracked lips, chafing, skin conditions and allergies...The  
leaf juice also relieves the itch from mosquito, tick and spider bites both  
for people and their animal companions. In the Eastern Cape of South  africa 
it is also used to treat diabetes and diptheria."
So what do you think?  It is worth another look?  Could this be a  useful 
plant for various garden and permaculture designs? Or should it be  shunned 
as uncontrollable?
 
Linda
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