Pigface
Carpobrotus rossii
Fleshy succulent ground-running plant with triangular-shaped leaves. Numerous glossy narrow bright pink flowers on tall stems.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Flora Type | Herbs |
| Other Common Names | Karkalla |
| Distinctive Features | Edible fleshy green or reddish cylindrical fruits to 2.5 cm long. |
| Biology | Perennial. Sandy soils on coasts and inland. Very sensitive to stock grazing. In the 1840's Edward Curr describes plains from Campaspe to Mount Hope in Vic as a bed of ripe fruit but soon after he considered pigface almost extinct in that region due to the trampling of sheep and cattle. |
| Native Status | Native |
| Flowering Time | Sep-Mar |
| Taxonomy | |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants) |
| Class | Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants) |
| Order | Caryophyllales |
| Family | Aizoaceae |
| Genus | Carpobrotus |
| Species | rossii |
The thick fleshy leaves and the flowers were important Aboriginal foods. The red fruits are also used as food but seem to only ripen in hot years. The fruit is broken off at the base and the pulp and seeds sucked out.
| Interesting Facts | |
|---|---|
| Similar Species | Very similar to the introduced Hottentot Fig Carpobrotus edulis from South Africa which has similar pink flowers except they are yellowish in the early stages, and it is more robust and larger in all its parts. |
| Native Status | Native |