Portulaca oleracea L.

Common Purslane; Garden Purslane; Little Hogweed

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Common Purslane is an introduced herbaceous annual in the Purslane family (Portulacaceae). It has an extensive distribution (nearly worldwide), and the actual native range is uncertain. It is assumed to be mostly anthropogenic (human dispersed) and may have reached the New World before Columbus. In Alabama it is present throughout the state. Common Purslane occurs as a lawn weed, in fields and gardens, in cracks of sidewalks and parking lots, on beaches, and along paths. It is an annual with a tap root. The stems are prostrate to erect, branched, glabrous, succulent, and often reddish in color. Leaves are alternate or congested towards the tips of the stems, spatulate or obovate in outline, flattened, succulent, and glabrous, with entire margins. Flowers are terminal or axillary. The flowers have 5-7 lemon yellow petals. The fruit is a capsule with many small shiny black seed. Common Purslane has the highest content of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants of any leafy vegetable. All parts of purslane are edible raw, or cooked and it is sometimes fed to livestock. It can be an aggressive weed, and is listed as one of the ten most noxious weeds worldwide.—A. Diamond.

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Not Native FACU (NWPL)

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