Plant originally from the beach at St Osyths Essex

Plant originally from the beach at St Osyths Essex

Was so impressed, I took a cutting home, it really grows well....had a Mauve flower or two this year.....no idea what it it’s name is

 

Looks like a Lampranthus.

Lampranthus - Wikipedia

 

Looks like Carpobrotus, its fairly common around coasts and originally came from S. Africa.

 

I think it may well belong to that family.
Hottentot fig comes to mind, but I'm not too sure which one that is, as I've seen yellow flowered ones and pink.

 

Ah yes,, we have Hottentot Fig here but the leaves are much, much thicker/bigger.

 

Looks like Carprobotus - Hottontot Fig.
It is naturalised in a few coastal areas in the UK - easy to pick off bits and grow in a garden

 

Hmm!
I have kept away from this ..as I haven't a clue how to id one from the other....
Carpobrotus edulis...common name Hottentot Fig./Ice Plant.
V
Lampranthus.....Commonly known as Perennial mesembryanthemum.

So started to search www.
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Carpobrotus edulis the leaves are triangular in cross section.
It is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves.
In UK it is invasive along coastal areas, particularly in the south west, where it competes with the native flora.
The solitary flowers are either yellow, pinkish purple or pink with yellow bases.
The fruit is edible.

Carpobrotus edulis fruit - Bing images

carpobrotus edulis lea cross section - Bing images

Carpobrotus edulis flowers - Bing images

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Genus: Carpobrotus
Species:
C. edulis

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Lampranthus.....Succulent - perennial with opposite, cylindrical or 3-angled leaves which often redded in full sun.Hardier than the related and better known Ice Plant (Carpobrotus edulis) and less invasive.
Flower colours including red, orange, peach, yellow and light pink through to magenta and purple.

seed pods.....
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/180263/


Lampranthus flower - Google Search

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Subfamily: Ruschioideae
Tribe: Ruschieae
Genus: Lampranthus

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Conclusion...I am none the wiser. Sorry.

 

Well I've grown both and Lampranthus is smaller and less spreading.

I've never found Lampranthus to be particully hardy with me, neither is Carpobrotus, but it is pretty rampant even on the East coast, Folkestone has a pretty good crop of it on the cliffs, just to name one place.

I've found Lampranthus to be more bushy with small flowers, but more abundant.
Its a smaller plant, full stop.

 

It looks more like the Lampranthus I have grown in the past, the Carprobotus stems around the cliffs down here can get to 5ft long and even on small plants the leaves are much bigger.

 

I think the photo is a bit deceiving the plant is appearing to be smaller than it actually is.
You can see the long trailing stems starting to form.

 

Which shows that between all of us we aren't really sure exactly what it is!

 

I am being stubborn, but judging the size of the leaves against the gravel, it appears to be Lampranthus, unless Hottentot is really that small ... but what do I know? Whichever, I love them both.

 

Definitely Mesembryanthemum.