Cooper's Iceplant is a dwarf perennial plant, native to South Africa, that forms a dense lawn with abundant, long-lasting flowers. The flowers are the most brilliant aspect of this plant, with the production of a great quantity of vermillion, magenta or pink flowers that will often cover an entire growing area, hence the popular name "pink carpet". The common name 'iceplant' is derived from the appearance of what looks like sparkling glass beads, or ice crystals, that is caused by bladder-like hairs on the leaf surface that reflect and refract light in a manner to make it appear that they sparkle.

There is currently no commercial applications for cooper's iceplant.

Within the realm of rational and holistic medicine, there is currently no known uses for cooper's iceplant.

Please note that MIROFOSS does not suggest in any way that plants should be used in place of proper medical and psychological care. This information is provided here as a reference only.

There currently is no information on the edibility of cooper's iceplant.

Cooper's iceplant is suitable for light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, and prefers well-drained soil. Cooper's iceplant is suitable for mildly acidic and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist and well drained soil. It can be cultivated in a wide range of areas with a Mediterranean climate. Unlike many ice plants, this species is hardy to -29°C. The leaves turn red in cold winter temperatures. Due to the low need for maintenance, it is suitable for urban environments and high temperature regions. It can often be found in large, extensive patches. The trailing stems also make it suitable for flowerpots and terraces.

Soil Conditions
Soil Moisture
Sunlight
Notes:

The plant contains ramified stems that are spread out and are long and narrow, with the end of the stems increasing into a quantity of isolated small flowers, with diameters ranging from 3cm to 5cm. These abundant and long-lasting flowers will remain in bloom from July through September. The plant is sun-loving, and thrives well in very dry and hot environments. While it adapts well to various soil types, it will suffer under water stagnation, and thus prefers well drained soils, or even rocky terrain. The flowers of cooper's iceplant are violet to pink with many ray like pedals. Cooper's iceplant reproduces by seed or by plant cuttings.

Plant Height	5cm to 10cm
Habitat	Roadsides, Clearings, Lawns, Rocky Areas
Leaves	1cm to 5cm long, Linear
Leaf Margin	Entire
Leaf Venation	Longitudinal
Stems	Hairy Stems
Flowering Season	July to October
Flower Type	Medium sized ray flowers
Flower Colour	Violet to Pink
Pollination	Insects
Flower Gender	Flowers are hermaphrodite and the plants are self-fertile
Fruit	Hard seed pods
USDA Zone	5A (-26°C to -28°C) cold weather limit

No known health risks have been associated with cooper's iceplant. However ingestion of naturally occurring plants without proper identification is not recommended.

Cooper's iceplant can be referenced in certain current and historical texts under the following three names:

Hardy Iceplant

Pink Carpet

Trailing Iceplant

Cooper's iceplant can be translated into the following select languages:

Arabic	مصنع الثلج	Bulgarian	лед за растителна	Chinese (Sim)	冰厂
Croatian	led biljke	Czech	led rostlina	Danish
Dutch		Esperanto	glacio planto	Estonian	jää taim
Finnish		French	fabrique de glace	German	Mittagsblume
Greek	εργοστάσιο πάγου	Hebrew	מפעל קרח	Hungarian	jég növény
Italian	impianto di ghiaccio	Japanese	アイスプラント	Korean	얼음 공장
Punjabi	ਆਈਸ ਪੌਦਾ	Lithuanian	ledo gamykla	Norwegian
Persian	کارخانه یخساز	Polish		Portuguese	fábrica de gelo
Romanian	plantă de gheață	Russian	лед завода	Slovak	ľad rastlina
Spanish	planta de hielo	Swedish	is växt	Tagalog
Turkish	buz çiçeği	Ukrainian	лід заводу	Vietnamese	nhà máy nước đá

The information provided in this conservation assessment has been provided by the Natureserve Database in conjuction with various federal, provincial, state, county, district, regional, and municipal governments as well as public and private conservation authorities. Information in this section is accurate from the last time this article was updated.
	Cooper's Iceplant has no conservation status as it is considered an exotic and or invasive species in North America.

The MIROFOSS database offers free printable garden tags for personal and non-profit use. These tags can be used to properly identify plant samples in a garden. Click on the tags shown on the the screen or -click here- to download a full size jpeg image for a cooper's iceplant identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer.

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Description	Leistner, O. A. (ed.). 2000. Seed plants of southern Africa: families and genera. Strelitzia 10. National Botanical Institute,
Description	Smith, G. F.; Chesselet, P.; Van Jaarsveld, E. J.; Hartmann, H.; Hammer, S.; Van Wyk, B.-E.; Burgoyne, P.; Klak, C.; & Kurzweil, H. 1998. Mesembs of the world. Briza Publications,
Image Rendering	USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Environment	National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Western Region): Alfred A. Knopf.ISBN 0-375-40232-2
Physical Identification	National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Western Region): Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-40232-2
June 06, 2015	The last time this page was updated
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