Better than what you planted
Purslane is a succulent 'weed' most people pull and toss — yet it's one of the most nutritious leafy plants you can eat, notably high in omega-3 fatty acids, with a pleasant lemony, slightly salty crunch. It thrives in heat and drought in the worst soil. In a survival sense, free abundant calories and nutrition growing in sidewalk cracks is a gift.
The critical lookalike
This is the one wild edible where identification truly matters, because of spurge.
🔎 How to identify it
- Thick, smooth, succulent (water-filled) reddish stems lying flat in a mat
- Fat, paddle-shaped fleshy leaves clustered at stem tips
- NO milky sap (clear juice only)
- Tiny yellow flowers
⚠ Lookalikes & safety
This is the must-know. Spurge grows in the same spots with a similar sprawling habit, BUT spurge has thin, NON-succulent stems and bleeds MILKY WHITE SAP when broken, and its leaves are thin, not fleshy. Purslane has fat juicy stems and CLEAR sap. Rule: break a stem — milky sap means spurge, throw it out. Clear sap and fat succulent leaves means purslane.
Edibility
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.