 In South Africa, Mesembryanthemums are known as "vygies" (from Afrikaans "vy"), although this term refers to many plants in the family Aizoaceae.Species formerly placed in "Mesembryanthemum" have been transferred to other genera, such as "Cleretum", "Carpobrotus" and "Sceletium", although sources differ.Jacob Breyne coined the name of the flower in 1684, using the spelling "Mesembrianthemum" ("midday flower"), from the Greek roots , meaning "noon", and , meaning "flower", because the species known at his time flowered at midday.