Purslain.
Portulaca.
A common plant in our gardens, and of a very singular aspect: we have few so succulent. It grows a foot long, but trails on the ground. The stalks are round, thick, and fleshy, of a reddish colour, and very brittle. The leaves are short and broad: they are of a good green, thick, fleshy, and broad, and blunt at the end. The flowers are little and yellow: they stand among the leaves toward the tops of the stalks. The root is small, fibrous, and whitish.
Purslain is a pleasant herb in sallads, and so wholesome, that 'tis a pity more of it is not eaten: it is excellent against the scurvy. The juice fresh pressed out with a little white wine, works by urine, and is excellent against stranguries and violent heats, and also against the scurvy.
