Ice Plant Flower (Sesuvium Portulacastrum Aizoaceae)

Ice Plant Flower Sesuvium Portulacastrum Aizoaceae. Sesuvium portulacastrum. Seaside Purslane. Family Aizoaceae.

Local Names.—Chara (Guam); Tarampulit, Karampalit, Dampalit, Bilangbilang (Philippines); Verdolaga de Costa (Cuba). A succulent, branching, prostrate, strand plant of wide tropical distribution, sometimes forming mounds on the sandy beach. Leaves opposite, entire, nearly veinless; flowers axillary, without petals; calyx 5-parted, green outside, purplish or rosecolored within; stamens many; styles 3 to 5; capsule 3 to 5-celled, circumscissile through the middle, the upper part like a lid, falling away when ripe, and leaving the lower part attached to the plant; seeds black, shining, smooth.

The entire plant is eaten cooked like spinach. It is rather salty. In some parts of lndia it is cultivated as a pot herb. References:

Sesuvium portulacastrum Stickman, Herb. Amb. 1754; Amoen. Acad. 4: 136. 1759.

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TEXT CREDIT: Elihu Root collection of United States documents