Scientific Name: Carpobrotus glaucescens

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  • Pronunciation:
    car-poe-BROW-tus glaw-KESS-ens
  • Common Name:
    Pig Face
  • Type:
    Groundcover
  • Family:
    AIZOACEAE
  • Status:
    Common
  • Flowers:
    Pink to 7 cm.
  • Fruit:
    edible to 30mm
  • Flowers Color:
    Pink
  • Fruit Color:
    Red
  • Vegetation Type:
    Seacoast, frontal dunes and headlands facing the sea
  • Species List:
    Bush medicine, Bush food, NLTalks2010, Community Gardens, Peregian Boardwalk, Kingfisher Bay Resort, Fraser Island, Batianoff 87, NNS, BHNR, Girraween
Cultural Notes

TAKE CARE! Some information about bush foods and medicines may be anecdotal. Correct identification and preparation is essential:

Bush food. Fruits eaten raw. Leaves roasted and eaten for salt, raw, cooked or pickled. The fruits of pigface are also known as beach bananas because the flesh inside their thick reddish skin resembles a small salty banana in both taste and appearance. Bush medicine: Leaf juice applied to marine stings. Contains local anaesthetic for sunburn, scalds and insect bites.

Identification Notes

Develops roots at leaf nodes. Good binding agent against erosion.

Landscaping Notes

Noosa Council Preferred Species. Sun. Suitable plant for appropriate soil conditions (see Vegetation type) . Suckering ground cover for average to sandy soils. Good for soil binding. Hardy seaside plant. Will also grow in dry inland regions. Useful rockery plant.||Feature foliage|