binomial name : Carpobrotus rossii
common name : Pigface or Karkalla (aboriginal name)
look alikes: Disphyma crassifolium (round-leaved pigface) - also edible
C rossii is the South Australian species - we have C glaucesens in Qld - we planted some in our yard awhile ago but it is still quite small.
It has thick and fleshy leaves with a triangular cross section - they are about 5-10cm long ( esp C glaucesens) and about 1cm wide. The flowers are a light purple colour. When the fruit develops it has a salty strawberry flavour and apparently was a popular food of the Aborigines. The leaves can be used as a salt substitute when cooking. I look forward to trying some fruit sometime - I have tasted the leaves and they are salty like the Samphire described yesterday.
The only pubmed abstract of note was about an extract of a pigface having anti-bacterial activity. Nutritionally the fruits would be useful in terms of anti-oxidants/vitamins but I was unable to locate actual details.
Note on the photos - I am fairly sure the photos are of Carpobrotus rossii and not the look alike Disphyma crassifolium- as this trip was not planned we did not take any reference texts and thus uncertainty arises, especially when these two plants are so similar. Apologies if they are mixed up!
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