''Titanopsis calcarea'', commonly called the jewel plant, is a species of ice plant (family

Aizoaceae The Aizoaceae (), or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1,800 species. Several genera are commonly known as 'ice plants' or 'carpet weeds'. The Aizoaceae are also referred to a ...

) in the genus ''

Titanopsis ''Titanopsis'' is a genus of about 10 species of succulent plants of the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the arid regions of South Africa and Namibia. The name ''Titanopsis'' is derived from the Greek (god), ''Titans, Titan'', the sun, and ''ops ...

'', native to the

Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sou ...

, Free State, and

Northern Provinces The Northern Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "TVL". It includes the ...

of South Africa. A succulent, it has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

as an ornamental. In nature usually only the tips of the leaves would rise above the sand or dust. The tip would be covered with white, gray or pink irregular dots, to match local pebbles. German-South African botanist

Rudolf Marloth Hermann Wilhelm Rudolf Marloth (28 December 1855 Lübben, Germany – 15 May 1931 Caledon, Cape Province) was a German-born South African botanist, pharmacist and analytical chemist, best known for his ''Flora of South Africa'' which appeared i ...

described the species in 1926 as ''Mesembryanthemum calcareum'', before

Martin Heinrich Gustav Schwantes Martin Heinrich Gustav Schwantes (18 September 1881 – 1960) was a German archaeologist and botanist specialist of Aizoaceae (Mesembryanthemaceae). Life and work Schwantes was born in Bleckede and died in Hamburg. The Duvensee paddle is the pr ...

placed it in the genus ''Titanopsis''.

References

Aizoaceae Endemic flora of South Africa Flora of the Cape Provinces Flora of the Free State Flora of the Northern Provinces Plants described in 1926 {{Aizoaceae-stub