Can anyone identify this plant? It's growing in an herb garden. Not sure if it's intentionally being grown or a weed. Thanks.

by ThinkItShapeIt

9 Comments

  1. bolderbeholder

    Mexicans call it Verdolagas. Sauté the leaves in scrambled eggs. It makes a tasty breakfast burrito 🤌🏻

  2. Ok-Half7574

    If you snap a branch off and the sap is transparent, it’s purslane and edible. If, on the other hand, the sap is white, it’s spurge and is a bit toxic–not edible. They tend to grow near one another, so always check.

  3. taintmaster900

    Probably not intentionally planted yet somehow doesn’t not belong in a vegetable garden 🤔

  4. UnoriginalBanter

    *portulaca oleracea*, “purslane”. Clear content in leaf and stem, no milk, small yellow flowers, succulent growth, stems turning red or purplish towards the end of the season. Used in some Mediterranean salads, but not largely found in grocery stores due to very poor tolerance to storage and shipping. Reportedly high in Omega 6 acids, which makes this plant rare amongst plants for vegetarian diets.

    Often found as a common garden weed.

    Lookalikes include *euphorbia maculata*, “spurge”, which exudes a milky white latex sap. Poisonous, like most plants in the clade, and symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Not a succulent.

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