Many know Green Purslane as a straggly garden weed but it‘s also an indigenous salad plant that has already been appreciated in the Middle Ages. The pulpy leaves taste crunchy, fresh, and slightly sour. The blossom buds can also be used as a replacement for capers. Green Purslane grows creeping on fields, dumps, and other ruderal areas. Because of the adaptability and the fast growth, the plant is almost globally spread today and is considered one of the most frequent plant varieties. The maximally 40cm high weed has up to 5cm long pulpy leaves that appear light green to yellowish or crimson depending on the season. After the small, yellow blossoms, oval seed capsules with many small black seeds are formed. As far as there’s no cohesive plant cover, green purslane sows itself successfully and, therefore, is a feared weed in some places. ETHNOBOTANY Green purslane has an old tradition as food and remedy. As a medicinal plant, it has already been known in ancient Babylon since the eighth century BC. Presumably, its slimy ingredients are responsible for the soothing effect on heartburn and other gastric troubles. But also as a salad or vegetable plant, green purslane has already been collected for several millennia. In the Middle Ages, the plant was also cultivated and there are even cultivars with slightly broader, most often yellowish leaves. The seeds were also used as medicine and food. The Australian aborigines made so-called seedcakes, a kind of Archaic bread, out of the seeds of purslane and other wild plants. USAGE You only harvest the young leaves before they bloom. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin c and taste slightly sour, salty, and nutty. Especially the crunchy texture makes green purslane leaves an appealing salad garnish. Allegedly, cooking salt was gained from the incineration of the weed.
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