Purslane
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Purslane ( Portulaca oleracea ), illustration |
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The purslane ( Portulaca oleracea ), also called vegetable purslane or summer purslane , is a species of the genus Portulaca ( Portulaca ). It is found in the temperate zones around the world and is occasionally used as a vegetable or spice.
description
The purslane is an annual , herbaceous , succulent plant that reaches heights of 10 to 30 centimeters, and in cultivated forms up to 40 centimeters. It branches from the base and above with prostrate and rising stems . The stems have a diameter of about 5 mm, they are green and, like the leaves, can be tinted purple in sunny conditions. The otherwise fresh green, succulent leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long, up to 1.5 centimeters wide and bluntly spatulate. They are alternate to almost opposite on the branches. The stipules are hardly recognizable as tiny hairs in the leaf axils.
The flowering period extends from June to October. The upside-down inflorescences , which appear above a group of mostly four leaves, have one to five (rarely up to 30) flowers . The green, sepal-like bracts are broadly ovate, have a diameter of 8 mm and are strongly keeled. The mostly five (rarely four) yellow petals are obovate. There are seven to ten (sometimes up to 15) stamens around the globular ovary with four to five stigmas .
The approximately 3 × 4 mm large fruit is egg-shaped. The black, roundish and often tiny warted seeds are 0.5 to 1 mm in size.
In culture, more upright growing plants are also known, which become larger in all parts. Portulaca oleracea occurs in three ploidy levels (2n = 18, 36, 54). It is extremely variable in all external characteristics and forms different shapes at different locations.
ecology
The yellow flowers mostly pollinate themselves, occasionally they are visited by flies and ants . The flowers are only open in the morning; their stamens are irritable.
The fruits are multi-seeded capsules with a lid. The seed set is considerable; a plant can develop up to 193,000 seeds. The seeds germinate optimally at a temperature above 25 ° C, they are light germs, even a soil cover of 5 mm damages the germination.
Purslane species are the only known example of plants that can switch between C4 photosynthesis and CAM photosynthesis , depending on the environmental conditions .
The spicy taste of the plant is due to omega-3 heptalinoleic acid .
Systematics
The first publication of Portulaca oleracea was in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum . Due to the great variability, a large number of small clans have been described as species, subspecies and varieties, which, however, according to other publications, all fall within the range of variation of Portulaca oleracea . The synonyms Portulaca oleracea subsp. sativa , Portulaca sativa and Portulaca oleracea var. sativa refer to a somewhat more robust form in culture with larger seeds that cannot be separated from the species.
The so-called winter purslane ( Claytonia perfoliata ) in cultivation comes from the spring herb family and is not closely related.
Occurrence
The region of origin of purslane can no longer be traced. Its original home is probably southeast and southern Europe. It is distributed worldwide in the warm temperate zones. The rapid propagation of the plants ( seedlings can grow, bloom and scatter seeds again within six weeks), the longevity of the seeds (50% of the seeds will germinate after 14 years), as well as their buoyancy and seawater resistance contribute to the widespread use. In 1993 the purslane was considered the eighth most common plant species worldwide and was also one of the ten most harmful " weeds ".
In Central Europe it thrives in warmer, lower altitudes . It is rarely found in northern Germany. Purslane colonizes nutrient-rich, loose sandy and loamy soils, which can also be dry in summer. It can be found as a pioneer plant in gardens, on fields, on paths and in cracks in the pavement. In Central Europe it grows preferentially in societies of the Polygonion avicularis association, but also in those of the Sisymbrietalia or Polygono-Chenopodietalia orders.
As a wild plant, Portulaca oleracea is an archaeophyte in Central Europe . In Central Europe, the purslane needs at least moderately nitrogenous, loose, humus-rich sandy or loamy soil in areas where the summers are warm and dry above average. In Central Europe it occurs in weed communities, in gardens and vineyards, but it also goes on paths, even in cracks in the pavement. As a wild plant, it is rare everywhere and hardly any stock-forming.
Use and ingredients
The harvest can take place as early as 4 weeks after sowing. Purslane has been used for nutrition for several thousand years , but like many wild vegetables , it has been forgotten in Germany. Purslane appears as a medicinal plant in an old Babylonian script from the eighth century BC, which lists the plants of the medicinal herb garden of King Marduk-Apla-Iddina II (the biblical Merodach-Baladan). Tabernaemontanus recommended in 1588 in his New Kreuterbuch purslane against the "sod in the stomach" and also states that the "juice kept in the mouth makes the wobbly teeth stand firm again". In some old herbal books (according to Avril Rodway) it is written: a pleasant lettuce plant and so healthy that one can only regret that it is not used more often .
Young leaves have a slightly sour, salty and nutty taste, while older leaves become bitter. The flower buds can be used in a similar way to capers .
The plants contain larger amounts of vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids as well as smaller amounts of vitamins A , B and E , the minerals and trace elements magnesium , calcium , potassium and iron , zinc as well as alkaloids , flavonoids , coumarins , saponins , glutamic acid , oxalic acid , the sterol β-sitosterol and mucilage . To preserve the ingredients, especially the vitamins, young twigs and picked leaves are best harvested fresh and used in salads and quark preparations , cut into small pieces . If the leaves are to be used cooked, it is sufficient to briefly blanch them or steam them in oil.
literature
- Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. tape 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 , pp. 204 .
- Dequan Lu, Michael G. Gilbert: Portulaca oleracea. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China . Volume 5: Ulmaceae through Basellaceae . Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2003, ISBN 1-930723-27-X , pp. 443 (English). , online , accessed December 20, 2009.
- James F. Matthews: Portulaca oleracea. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico . Volume 4: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1 . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford a. a. 2003, ISBN 0-19-517389-9 , pp. 499 (English). , online, accessed December 20, 2009.
- Avril Rodway: Herbs and Spices. The most useful plants in nature - culture and use. Tessloff, Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3-7886-9910-8 .
- Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (Hrsg.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg . 2nd, supplemented edition. tape 1 : General Part, Special Part (Pteridophyta, Spermatophyta): Lycopodiaceae to Plumbaginaceae . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3322-9 .
- Ruprecht Düll, Herfried Kutzelnigg: Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait. 7., corr. u. exp. Edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 . Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait . 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
- Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe . 2nd Edition. Volumes 1-5. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology: Little-known types of vegetables. Saxon State Government, Dresden 2nd edition 2013.
- ↑ Carl von Linné: Species Plantarum. Volume 1, Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae 1753, p. 445, digitized .
- ^ JF Matthews, DW Ketron, SF Zane: The biology and taxonomy of the Portulaca oleracea L. (Portulacaceae) complex in North America. In: Rhodora. Volume 95, No. 882, 1993, pp. 166-183, digitized .
- ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 7th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1828-7 , pp. 356 .
- ↑ Steffen Guido Fleischhauer: Encyclopedia of the edible wild plants. 3. Edition. AT Verlag, Aarau / Munich 2005, ISBN 3-85502-889-3 , p. 260.
- ↑ Lixia Liu, Peter Howe, Ye-Fang Zhou, Zhi-Qiang Xu, Charles Hocart, Ren Zhang: Fatty acids and β-carotene in Australian purslane (Portulaca oleracea) varieties. In: Journal of Chromatography A. Volume 893, No. 1, 2000, pp. 207-213, doi: 10.1016 / S0021-9673 (00) 00747-0 , PDF file ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info : The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
Web links
- Profile of Art
- The sort of profile (Engl.)
- Portulaca oleracea . In: S. Dressler, M. Schmidt, G. Zizka (Eds.): African plants - A Photo Guide. Senckenberg, Frankfurt / Main 2014.
- Portulaca oleracea L., vegetable purslane. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Distribution map for Germany. In: Floraweb .
- Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
- Purslane . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
- Portulaca oleracea at Plants For A Future
- Portulaca oleracea L. s. l. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )