Sesuvium portulacastrum

Taxobox
color = lightgreen

---

regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Caryophyllales
familia = Aizoaceae
genus = "Sesuvium"
species = "S. portulacastrum"
binomial = "Sesuvium portulacastrum"
binomial_authority = (L.) L.

"Sesuvium portulacastrum", commonly known as Shoreline Purslane or (ambiguously) "sea purslane", is a sprawling perennial herb that grows in coastal areas throughout much of the world.

Description

It grows as a sprawling perennial herb up to 30 centimetres high, with thick, smooth stems up to a metre long. It has smooth, fleshy, glossy green leaves that are linear or lanceolate, from 10 to 70 millimetres long and 2 to 15 millimetres wide. Flowers are pink or purple.cite book | author = Prescott, A. and Venning, J. | year = 1984 | chapter = Aizoaceae | title = "Flora of Australia", Volume 4: Phytolaccaceae to Chenopodiaceae | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Government Publishing Service] FloraBase | name = "Sesuvium portulacastrum" (L.) L. | id = 2818]

Taxonomy

It was first published as "Portulaca portulacastrum" by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.APNI | name = "Portulaca portulacastrum" L. | id = 257626] Six years later Linnaeus transferred it into "Sesuvium",APNI | name = "Sesuvium portulacastrum" (L.) L. | id = 5484] 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".APNI | name = "Halimus portulacastrum" (L.) Kuntze | id = 31696]

Distribution and habitat

It grows in sandy clay, coastal limestone and sandstone, tidal flats and salt marshes, 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. [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/tax_search.pl?Sesuvium%20portulacastrum "Sesuvium portulacastrum"] at the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)]

References