Scientific Name: Portulaca oleracea

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  • Common Name:
    Pigweed, Purslane
  • Type:
    Succulent herb
  • Flowers:
    Yellow, 5 mm
  • Vegetation Type:
    Bare earth throughout the world
  • Species List:
    Bush food,
Cultural Notes

TAKE CARE! Some information about bush foods and medicines may be anecdotal. Correct identification and preparation is essential:

Bush food: Pigweed (Portulaca oleracea) not only provided tiny, oily, nutritious seeds, but a green vegetable, whose anti-scorbutic qualities were valued by the people of the west well into the 1950s. Leaves and stems edible. Staple aboriginal food. Seeds collected,ground into flour and made into cakes.

Identification Notes

Leaves triangular and fleshy