The leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds of the purslane plant are all edible, but I've only eaten the stems and leaves myself. Yum, My grandma used to find this and feed it to us. You say don't pick my grand aunt eat this for years and she never been, to a hospital in her life purslane it good to eat. I thought it was beautiful and asked what it was but she didn't know other than it is a weed she loves and welcomes in her flower gardens and has even put them in pot arrangements. 21st February 2017. Bittercress edible parts/uses: The leaves, flowers, and … However, it does not have the rounded leaf lobes that Pink Purslane has. Another possible confusion (without their flowers) could be Red Campion. Linda Jo Martin from Post Falls, Idaho, USA on November 08, 2012: I'm so happy to see this page here! A succulent and tasty plant with an almost beetroot like earthy flavour that can be found throughout the year, it flowers from April to July. This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional. It is actually pink “purslane”. Fantastic lens! Edible Weeds 1. It is also recommended for stir-frying. Purslane is not only a popular, colorful selection for the garden, but it also is an herb with healthy nutritious qualities used in salads and other foods. The simplest way to enjoy purslane herbs in food is to eat it fresh and raw, any way you would spinach. Plant breeders have outdone themselves with larger 2" blooms, double flowers, and even some new colors. When eaten regularly by people with diabetes, an … Medicinal Uses. Purslane, (latin name: Portulaca oleracea), is a wonderful, edible "weed". Thanks, Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Antioxidants in Edible Wild Plants, Codillo Aquiahuac (Mexican Pork With Purslane), Domatesli Semizotu (Purslane With Tomato). Damp woodland usually fairly close to water. Joan lives in Los Angeles, where she has an enduring love affair with edible weeds. If the food system breaks down, this information could save lives! There is controversy about whether purslane is native to North America or was carried over. Answer: There is a plant called pink purslane, but it is a different species than the P. oleracea. The basal leaves have long stems and are a bit spoon shaped. The flavor is mild to sweet and slightly acidic. It's known to cleanse liver and I myself use the dried and powdered leaf and stem in yogurt to accompany dinner whenever I remember. These were pancakes from pink purslane not pink pancakes! The plump leaves and stems give an obvious invitation. It does not wilt, even in the height of summer, and blooms continuously with hot pink flowers from first planting until heavy frost. Once you know the Latin name, you can look up the plant that way and find out for certain. purslane is eaten in fatoosh and salad in Lebanon, it is a very common herb in Lebanon. (I avoid putting images of other plants on my weed pages, because I wouldn't want a picture of spurge to show up in a Google search for purslane.). These edible weeds sites are great! Wow - tasty too. Required fields are marked *. That was one of the best salads I ever had - I think it was mainly purslane and bean sprouts, with a dressing of sesame oil and liquid aminos. Hello, Green Deane, portulaca pilosa is edible. Question: Is purslane soporific? My aunt just re introduce this plant to us as she had been eating and saw many benefits from it. One of the things everybody talks about is the fact that purslane has more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy plant known on earth. Make wilted purslane salad, with crumbled bacon on top: Make a hot vinaigrette out of the bacon grease, water, vinegar, sugar, and salt, and pour the hot dressing over the purslane, causing it to wilt. Ornamental purslane is wonderful in hanging baskets, spilling over the sides. Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes Foraging Courses, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon Foraging Courses, Pink Purslane, Winter Purslane, Siberian Spring Beauty. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) You might spot purslane in your favorite seed catalogs, but it can also be a weed. Blessed! if you break a stem it leaks white sap. Pink purslane is Claytonia sibirica, also known as Siberian purslane, Siberian spring beauty, Siberian miner’s lettuce or candy flower.It flowers later in the spring (from about April) but the leaves are out now as Claytonia sibirica is an evergreen perennial. In Saudi Arabia I grew "rejleh", and relied on it as a sleep aid. Winter Purslane (Claytonia perfoliata), or Miner’s Lettuce, is not a member of the Portulaca genome, but we’ve included it here because it is edible and highly nutritious. They have a slightly sour edge (not as strong as wood sorrel) and a hint of a mucilaginous quality (not as strong as mallows). I just found some purslane in my garden! Try it simply sautéed (say, with garlic or shallot), or in a stir-fry. All parts of Purslane are edible: leaves, flowers, and stem. In Spanish, purslane is called verdolaga, and I saw several Mexican recipes that used it as an ingredient. I'm used to just breaking a piece off and eating it, and at the end of last summer, it was tasting real sweet and had a different texture. People might also confuse it with Tribulus terrestris (puncture vine), though I would think they wouldn't try to eat that, or Chamaesyce spp., which is where they seem to have moved Euphorbia maculata in some places. I remember loving it like I do swiss chard. The flower stem leaves grow in opposite pairs with no stem looking almost perfoliate. Pink purslane. The purslane leaves are loaded with juicy and nutritious sap that is highly … I'll make you a deal you can have all you can pull out of my vegetable and flowers gardens for free and I'll throw in free cucumbers and tomatoes as well! Very … Common Purslane (P. oleracea) is widely considered an edible plant, and in some areas an invasive type of weed. The seeds are used as decoration in berenji, which is an iranian sweet/biscuit. Comment document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "abc81c0e77c5fcd01740b0544db94c67" );document.getElementById("f84f880090").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); This tasty little plant is usually found near water. All summer long my friends were talking about purslane... and I didn't know what it was. Take a look at the pictures below for visual cues. It trails low to the ground so it's an excellent container or ground cover plant. That said, it’s delicious. It's a sturdy one, growing in huge patches at the edges of yards and sidewalks, a treasure to urban foragers. Purslane tends to grow close to the ground in dense patches that spread wide. Tasty and yummy! No plant does. That was my favorite purslane summer of all. Question: I bought purslane at Lowe’s and it has pink, red, and salmon colored flowers. After moving to the US I missed purslane so much, I couldn't find the seeds anywhere which eventually I found online and ordered the seeds from the UK, I planted them in planters. Today, there’s some evidence that it can help to reduce uterine bleeding. Leaves, stems and flowers. The spurge's stem always is a dark red while purslane stems very from green to purple, though are often "earthworm" pink/red. Some recommended it for skin problems, similar to the use of aloe vera. It is very easy care. I was going to do a lens on this. It has several times the concentration of ALA than is found in spinach. "This food is very low in cholesterol." Thanks for the informative video. Purslane readily reseeds itself. Someone wants to eat this?! It's tasty, versatile, highly nutritious, easy to find, grows everywhere and is relatively easy to identify. The leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds of the purslane plant are all edible, but I've only eaten the stems and leaves myself. Although purslane is referred to as a weed, this succulent broadleaf plant has many health benefits. For a whole host of additional purslane recipes—including pickled purslane and verdolago con queso—check out this horticulture page at Texas A&M University. Purslane is a succulent annual trailing plant that grows in many countries because it thrives in poor soil. They usually have a fairly bland flavour and are quite nice in a salad or cooked as a green vegetable. Identification – 3/5 – The short (up to 20cm), glossy, veined, rounded, single-stalked leaves are quite distinctive, often forming extensive mats made of many rosettes. Purslane is generally eaten raw, in salads, like the one listed below. Portulaca is a genus of the flowering plant family Portulacaceae, comprising about 40-100 species found in the tropics and warm temperate regions. All content and photography © 2021 Wild Food UK. I also just discovered that purslane is call khorfeh in Iran, and is featured in Persian dishes. A distinctive looking plant with vague similarities to chickweed. The hardest part about growing purslane is finding it. Edibility – 4/5 – A delicious, mild, succulent green leaf with an earthy beetroot flavour. I love that you're writing about edible wild plants in your area. Thanks for the info! The minute you look at purslane, you can tell that it wants you to eat it. It's not native to North America, and so is generally considered to be an invasive weed. My best advice when using purslane in your kitchen is to either eat it raw, or cook it completely. ", The Spanish name for purslane is verdolaga, while another English name for it is "pigweed.". Now I'm looking forward to finding purslane in my own garden next year. The whole plant is edible but the spoon shaped basal leaves are the sweetest especially in Winter or Spring. Answer: Yes, some people do make purslane tea. Cynthia Sylvestermouse from United States on September 20, 2009: I think identifying it would be the hardest part for me. When I looked it was full of aphids, so I got some extra protein. It reads: "This food is very low in Cholesterol. So it is sometimes added as a thickener in soups and stews. The stems of the spurge are hairy and the flowers look different. Bill from Gold Coast, Australia on December 03, 2011: years ago, back before I was into wild edibles I had purslane growing all over my yard and I used to spray it or pull it out of the cracks in the path. Purslane grows so readily it's considered a weed in some parts of the USA. I DO have this in my garden!! Purslane Skin Benefits. They are also known as Purslane, Sun Plant, Rose Moss and Wax Pink. This article will help you identify purslane and will also provide some recipes for how best to cook this edible wild plant. I've never done it myself, so I don't know how it tastes. The petals have pink to purple veins and if the petal is really closely examined each has a yellowish spot towards the base. Is it edible? The leaves have a … Once you have identified it, it becomes as simple as telling a head of lettuce from a head of cabbage. we cook it with dhall or lentils. However, it is also an edible and highly nutritious vegetable. What I was wondering is, the hybrid purslane (Portulaca) with various brightly colored blossoms that one buys from the gardening center--is it also edible? Photos of spurge can be seen at Wikimedia Commons. Question: Can purslane be dried and used as powder? Question: Can you make tea from Purslane? The foolproof way to differentiate between the two is by breaking a stem. But some research suggests that the American Indians were eating it before they made contact with Europeans. The stem of the spurge oozes a milky white sap. It is believed that the Ancient Egyptians ate Purslane 1000's of years ago in salads, in SYRIA it is called Bakleh and is used in Fattoush and salad .It can be added as it is to yougort . I put purslane seeds in my balcony containers and have been surprised (and annoyed) at how well it has thrived. This is an awesome plant for pots or hanging baskets. Winter Purslane has small pink or white flowers with five petals and succulent, lilly-pad shaped leaves. Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) Bittercress. Can't find much around here, but I can order seeds. Had I not known portulaca pilosa was pink purslane I would have considered it harmful to eat based on your comment. very delicious. Portulaca is Latin, coming from portula, which means "gate," in reference to the gate-like covering of the seed capsule. Growing Purslane. So I would consider it an unknown plant and I would not try to eat it. I was so amazed! Purslane is high in Omega-3 fatty acids and contains vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and iron. So throw away those fish oil capsules and grow your own Omega-3 fatty acids! Between April and July the 5 pale pink to white split petalled flowers will help confirm identification, nodding above … Purslane is larger, has a thicker stem, larger leaves and has no white sap. Prostrate spurge (Euphorbia maculata) is another weed that somewhat resembles purslane, but it's toxic—it won't kill you, but it can make you ill. Spurge has a similar growing pattern (low on the ground). Purslane (also known as common purslane, verdolaga, red root, pursley or portulaca oleracea) is an edible plant that is packed full of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Your email address will not be published. Purslane is my favorite summer plant - this edible purslane is an excellent addition to your garden - its fast-growing and provides beautiful color to your garden! I hadn't heard that it might be native. Great lens! I would think that if they say it is related, that means that it is not actual portulaca. Succulent and earthy, almost beetroot like. Spurge bleeds a white, latex sap but purslane's sap is clear if it even is seen. Stephanie Tietjen from Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 22, 2012: It was growing in my yard and I transplanted it to pots. Great article and I especially like the spurge that you've pointed out! Drought tolerant. Purslane or khorfe is used in cucumber salad or with other greens as a sidedish , but mostly in the south of iran. The leaves are thick and fleshy, arranged alternately on the stem, and low and spreading along the ground. This is not the hybrid purslane that you find in garden centers with the neon orange, red, pink and yellow flowers. Usually purslane and spurge grow near to one another which makes it easier to identify for the first time. It can be eaten as a cooked vegetable and is great to use in salads, soups, stews or any dish you wish to sprinkle it over. Thanks. Common Name: Pink purslane Genus: Claytonia ... As with other members of the purslane family, the plant has edible leaves which can be eaten throughout the year. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and... Purslane is regarded as a cooling herb and is suggested for help with fevers and inflammatory conditions. There is a huge difference between not liking the taste of something and considering something not edible. Spurge leaves remain small and flat while purslane leaves become thickly succulent and as large as the first joint of a pinkie finger. I eat purslane. between spurge and purslane. Your email address will not be published. I haven't Seen much of a regular consumption in other parts of the country although it grows all over. Barbara Radisavljevic from Templeton, CA on September 27, 2009: Ah, you beat me to it. If you only partially roast or boil it, it takes on a slimy texture, similar to okra. great information for shore, i will be harvesting these from my garden, thank you! We made a soup from it. Dark green with a glossy surface. This plant contains no cholesterol. But the leaves are thinner and smaller, and sometimes they have a spot of reddish coloring at the center of the leaf. 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