ICENI, a race of ancient Britain who occupied the part of England now known as Norfolk and Suffolk. After the death of their king Prasutagus in A.D. 6o the Romans established their authority, and the Iceni were eventually conquered and became part of the Roman Empire. See BOADICEA.
the popular name for Mesembryanthemurn crystallinum (family Aizoaceae), a hardy annual most effective for rockwork in mild climates. It is a low-growing, spreading, herbaceous plant with the fleshy stem and leaves covered with large glittering papillae which give it the appearance of being coated with ice. It is a dry-country plant, a native of Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands, South Africa and California. Mesembryanthemum is a large genus (containing about 35o species) of erect or prostrate fleshy herbs or low shrubs, mostly natives of South Africa, and rarely hardy in the British Isles or the northeastern United States, where they are mostly grown as greenhouse plants. They bear conspicuous white, yellow or red flowers with many petals inserted in the calyx-tube. The thick fleshy leaves are very variable in shape, and often have spiny rigid hairs on the margin. They are essen tially sun-loving plants. The best-known member of the genus is M. cordifolium, var. variegatum, with heart-shaped green and silvery leaves and bright rosy-purple flowers. It is extensively used for edging flower-beds and borders during the summer months. Besides the ice-plant three other species grow on the coast of California, the sea fig or beach strawberry (M. aequi laterale), with thick, three-sided leaves, and the small-leaved fig marigold (M. nodiflorurn), both native, and also the Hottentot fig (M. edule) of South Africa, with fleshy, edible fruit, culti vated as a sand-dune binder but now naturalized along the coast near Los Angeles.