Sesuvium portulacastrum

Sesuvium portulacastrum is a sprawling perennial herb that grows in coastal areas throughout much of the world. It is commonly known as shoreline purslane[2] or (ambiguously) "sea purslane," in English, and dampalit in Tagalog.

Sesuvium portulacastrum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Genus: Sesuvium
Species:
S. portulacastrum
Binomial name
Sesuvium portulacastrum
(L.) L.
Synonyms[1]

Description

Sesuvium portulacastrum is a sprawling perennial herb up to 30 centimetres (12 in) high, with thick, smooth stems up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) long. It has smooth, fleshy, glossy green leaves that are linear or lanceolate, from 10–70 millimetres (0.39–2.76 in) long and 2–15 millimetres (0.079–0.591 in) wide. Flowers are pink or purple.[3][4]

Taxonomy

It was first published as Portulaca portulacastrum by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[5] Six years later Linnaeus transferred it into Sesuvium,[6] and it has remained at that name ever since, with the exception of an unsuccessful 1891 attempt by Otto Kuntze to transfer the species into a new genus as Halimus portulacastrum.[7]

Distribution and habitat

Sesuvium portulacastrum grows in sandy clay, coastal limestone and sandstone, tidal flats and salt marshes,[4] throughout much of the world. It is native to Africa, Asia, Australia, North America and South America, and has naturalised in many places where it is not indigenous.[8]

Atsara, a Philippine condiment often featuring dampalit

Chemistry and Medicine

Fatty acid composition:- palmitic acid (31.18%), oleic acid (21.15%), linolenic acid (14.18%) linoleic acid (10.63%), myristic acid (6.91%) and behenic acid (2.42%) The plant extract showed antibacterial and anticandidal activities and moderate antifungal activity.[9]

Human consumption

Sesuvium portulacastrum is eaten in the Philippines, where it is called dampalit in Tagalog and "bilang" or "bilangbilang" in the Visayan language[10]. The plant is primarily pickled and eaten as atchara (sweet traditional pickles).

gollark: It would be great* if they did eventually get powerful enough and directed enough to cook unsuspecting passersby.
gollark: That's weirdly specific.
gollark: It was a very successful research program combining theorizing about the physics and doing experiments to test it.
gollark: You can't really tell when those would have entered use *anyway*.
gollark: "Individual weapon"? So if you glue two together, it's allowed?

References
  1. The Plant List, Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L.
  2. "Sesuvium portulacastrum". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  3. Prescott, A. & Venning, J. (1984). "Aizoaceae". Flora of Australia. 4. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
  4. "Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L." FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  5. "Portulaca portulacastrum L." Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  6. "Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L." Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  7. "Halimus portulacastrum (L.) Kuntze". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  8. Sesuvium portulacastrum at the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)
  9. Chandrasekaran M., Senthilkumar A., Venkatesalu V "Antibacterial and antifungal efficacy of fatty acid methyl esters from the leaves of Sesuvium portulacastrum L. ". European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. 15 (7) (pp 775-780), 2011.
  10. Jes B. Tirol's Kapulongnan Binisaya-Ininglis/Dictionary Bisaya-English, p. 71, 2010
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