Mesembs ARE the most fascinating of succulent plant groups with their enormous range of weird and wonderful forms and adaptations that facilitate survival in unique and hostile environments (mostly Southern African).
Recent research indicates they are probably the most rapidly evolving group of plants in the world. The mesembryanthema as they are informally known, comprise two of four sub-families, the Mesembryanthemoideae and the Ruschioideae, of the Aizoaceae plant family. It should be no surprise that the Aizoaceae belong to the most fascinating of the many plant orders - the Caryophyllales. This extremely adaptive plant order, includes other bizarre species such as the tropical Pitcher Plants (Nepenthaceae), the Carnivorous Sundews (Drosera spp.) the Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) the aquatic carnivores in Aldrovanda (all three Droseraceae) and the Sundew-like carnivorous plants in the Drosophyllaceae family. Perhaps the weirdest member of the order is Triphyophyllum peltatum, a carnivore in the Dioncophyllaceae family.
Mesembs are equally as amazing but often far more beautiful, so read on. The order also contains other well known succulent plants in the Cactaceae, Didiereaceae and Portulacaceae families.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mesembs_for_beginners/
Photo. Circandra serrata. Photographer unknown