Menu list goes here

Herbal Database Search Results

Back to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven

Halimione portulacoides

Common name:	Sea Purslane	Family:	Chenopodiaceae
Author:	(L.)Aellen.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Obione portulacoides ((L.)Moq.), Atriplex portulacoides (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, including Britain, south and east to N. Africa and W. Asia. Also in S. Africa.
Habitat:	Salt marshes, especially fringing channels and pools, usually flooded at full tide[5, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Gewone Zoutmelde [D], Sea Purslane [H],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 0.75m. . It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to September. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist or wet soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Bog Garden, Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves - raw in salads or cooked as a potherb[5, 8, 12, 183]. Thick and succulent with a good crunchy texture and a natural saltiness[183]. They need careful washing when collected from the wild[52].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in poor soils, saline soils and a sunny position. Tolerates light shade and maritime exposure.

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. The seed germinates from winter onwards. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Very easy[K].
Division in spring.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Atriplex portulacoides (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for the family Chenopodiaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[8] Ceres. Free for All. Thorsons Publishers 1977 ISBN 0-7225-0445-4
Edible wild plants in Britain. Small booklet, nothing special.

[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

Readers Comments

Back to: Pathways Home page, Main Search Page Help Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Halimione+portulacoides
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Halimione+portulacoides

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
(You can copy, distribute, display this works but: Attribution is required, its for Non-Commercial purposes, and it's Share Alike (GNUish/copyleft) i.e. has an identical license.)
We also ask that you let us know (michael@thewitchshaven.com) if you link to, redistribute, make a derived work or do anything groovy with this information.

Pathways Home :: View Cart :: Shipping & Returns :: Contact Us :: Privacy Policy :: Philosophy :: The Witchs Haven

We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.