Guide Note

Purslane is a food plant in the family, Portulacaceae, that is native to the Indian subcontinent, where it has been cultivated since ancient times. Purslane is commonly encountered in the U.S. as a weed, growing wild in yards and in the cracks of sidewalks. As with many such plants (including lamb's quarters and sea beans, it is usually sold in the U.S. as a high-priced luxury item, through organic specialty grocers. Purslane is a succulent plant, with smallish paddle-shaped leaves growing from a low, creeping stem usually of a reddish-brown color. Its small flowers are yellow or red, and its fruit is a capsule containing many tiny black seeds.

Besides its longstanding use in and near India, Purslane was familiar to the ancients in the Mediterranean, and to much of the Western world during and after the Middle Ages -- including colonial America, in which it was grown as a potherb (or cooking vegetable) and for various reputed medicinal properties. Its popularity in the U.S. later waned to the point where it was barely used in the late 20th Century, except in rural areas and among various ethnic populations..

Raw purslane is crisp, moist, and slightly tangy, and it is used raw in salads either to add zest to milder greens or to offset more bitter ones. Steamed or boiled, it has a mucilaginous property like okra, and can be eaten alone or added to soups or stews as a thickener.

Fast Facts

1. AKA: Fatweed, Pigweed, Little Hogweed, Dolly Parton Flower
2. As with pokeweed, many survivors of the Great Depression came to associate purslane with poverty and foraging-by-necessity
3. More Omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy plant
4. Contains vitamins and dietary minerals
5. Uses: Salads, stews, soups, and cooked like spinach
6. The apparently-identical sea purslane, which grows near salt water, is unrelated