Iceplant
Carpobrotus edulis · Aizoaceae
- Height
- 4-12 in
- Habitat
- Coastal
🚫 Invasive / non-native weed
At a glance · What it is: A succulent groundcover that smothers coastal habitat · Tell-tale sign: Mats of fat, 3-sided fingerlike leaves; big yellow-to-pink daisy flowers · Why it matters: Blankets dunes and bluffs, displacing rare native plants
How to identify
A trailing succulent forming dense mats of fleshy, triangular (3-sided) finger-like leaves, with large showy flowers that open yellow and age to pink. Spreads across the ground in long runners that root as they go. Widely (and mistakenly) planted decades ago for “erosion control” along highways and coasts.
Why it’s a problem
- Smothers native dune and bluff plants, including rare and endangered species, forming a monoculture.
- Alters the soil (lowers pH, adds salt) in ways that hinder native recovery.
- Doesn’t actually stabilize slopes well — its shallow, heavy, water-laden mats can increase slumping on steep bluffs, the opposite of its original selling point.
How to remove it
Comparatively easy, which makes it satisfying restoration work.
- Hand-pull / roll up the mats — the roots are shallow; peel them back like a carpet.
- Remove all fragments (stem pieces re-root) and dispose away from native areas; the thick mats can be solarized.
- Replant promptly with natives so it can’t recolonize bare ground.
Plant this instead (native coastal)
- California Buckwheat (coastal forms) — tough, pollinator-rich groundcover/shrub.
- Dudleya (Dudleya spp.) — iconic native bluff succulents for the same niche.
- Beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) & seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus) — spreading native groundcovers.
Where it’s spread near you
- iNaturalist — observed in Orange County — concentrated along the coast.
