Desert Horse Purselane

• Plant Type: Annual herb.
• Common Names: Desert Horse-purslane, Horse-purslane, Black-pigweed, Giant-pigweed.
• Color: Pink, purple
• Flower Dimensions: 0.2 to 0.4 inch in diameter.
• Flowering Seasons/Months: Summer and fall (May to October).
• Desert with Desert Horse Purselane: Thar.

Triabthena portulacastrum is an annual herb of the family Aizoaceae. The Desert Horse Purselane is succulent and usually glabrous.

• The stems of the Desert Horse Purselane are fleshy and prostrate. The stems are usually reddish.
• The leaves of the Desert Horse Purselane are opposite, simple, and obovate. There are small hairs near the leaves. They are petiolate.
• Triabthena portulacastrum flowers are tiny. Each flower has 5 lobes that open only in the morning. The flowers of the Desert Horse Purselane do not have petals, but the sepals are petallike.
• The blossoms of the plant occur on the leaf axils. The flowers are usually solitary and sessile.

• The Desert Horse Purslane plant has been eaten for at least 2000 years. The plant was already consumed as food by the ancient Romans and Greeks^[1].
• It was said that the Purslane was Gandhi’s favorite food.
• The purslanes harvested in the morning are tarter than those harvested in the late part of the day or evening.
• Research from the Indian Journal of Pharmacology^[3] cited that in Indian traditional medicine, the Desert Horse Purselane is considered a diuretic.
• The extracts from the Desert Horse Purselane^[4] showed efficacy in the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antihyperglycemic, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities.