DELICIOUS PURSLANE: A ROADSIDE HERB

Little do many of us realise that the weeds growing by the roadside are herbs that have medicinal value. Take for instance the plant above.  It is commonly known as purslane, moss rose or pig weed.  The scientific name is Portulaca oleracea.
Purslane be eaten as a leaf vegetable. It has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout much of  Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Mexico.The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible. Purslane may be used fresh as a salad, stir-fried, or cooked as spinach.
In Chinese it is known as Ma Chi Xian (pinyin: translates as "horse tooth amaranth") and is used in traditional medicine.  Purslane is a clinically effective treatment for oral lichen planus, and its leaves are used to treat insect or snake bites on the skin, boils, sores, pain from bee stings, bacillary dysentery, diarrhea,hemorrhoids, postpartum bleeding, and intestinal bleeding.

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