PORTULACA OLERACEA

Living in the Eastern Cape as I do, I am thoroughly familiar with stands of Portulacaria afra, commonly known as Spekboom, Pork Bush or Elephant Bush. It is a plant that dominates parts of subtropical thickets and is widespread in the Karoo. The latter common name comes about for it forms an important part of the diet of elephants in this part of the country. I have increasing numbers of Spekboom bushes growing in my garden:

Spekboom Portulacaria afra

I also have an abundance of this common weed I was unable to put a name to until Eliza’s sharp eye identified the Common Purslane growing in a pot shown when I was lamenting that I had not planted any flowers or seedlings because of the drought.

I immediately reached for my trusty copy of Common Weeds in South Africa and realised that I had bypassed this one because in the sketch of it, the leaves do not look as fleshy as they are in life. So, I not only have an abundance of Spekboom in my garden, but Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is thriving too. Look at all these tiny seedlings germinating in this pot:

They have deep taproots and the stems are often reddish, as you can see here:

The leaves are thickly fleshy and round tipped.

While these plants originate from Europe, they are now considered a cosmopolitan weed that is mainly found in gardens and wasteland where the soil has been disturbed. It is regarded here as a persistent annual herbaceous weed that is well adapted to warm and moist environments – and clearly does not mind hot and dry weather either! Now that I know that it makes a good ground cover that helps to stop the soil from drying out too much in summer, I will leave it in situ until I need the space for something else.

Eliza mentioned that the leaves are edible – as are those of the Spekboom – and so I looked up this aspect of the plant: apparently both the leaves and stems – whether eaten raw or cooked – are considered to be nutritious. As with the leaves of Spekboom, the leaves of Common Purslane are apparently quite tasty to add to salads. The leaves can also be used to make nutritious soups, where it can also be used in lieu of cornflower as a thickening agent.

The author, C. Louis Leipoldt (1880-1947) writes in his Leipoldt’s Cape Cookery:

Purslane (porseleinblaar) that grows profusely in every Cape garden in late winter and spring was, in the old days, and should be today, a favourite vegetable. Its little succulent leaves were gathered, washed and braised with ginger powder, mace, pepper and salt in fat; a tiny spicule of garlic was added, a wineglassful of wine was stirred in, and the result was an amazingly delicate, luscious and sapid puree that was served with rice and potatoes.

It is not surprising to learn that this plant was introduced to southern Africa as a source of vitamin C for early seafarers!

Dried purslane can apparently also be added to the feed of laying hens to increase egg production and egg weight.

References:

Henderson M and Anderson JG 1966: Common Weeds in South Africa. Department of Agricultural Technical Services. Botanical Survey, Memoir No. 37

Smith GF, Crouch NR, and Figueiredo E 2017: Field Guide to Succulents in Southern Africa. Struik Nature

https://www.kzndard.gov.za/images/Documents/RESOURCE_CENTRE/GUIDELINE_DOCUMENTS/Research_and_Technology_Bulletin/Purslane_A-weed-with-a-potential-for-Human-Consumption-and-Animal-Feed.pdf

https://thegreentimes.co.za/wild-about-weeds-part-4-purslane/

AT HOME IN MARCH

Apart from having been away for a few days and my anticipated trip away for a while soon, things have been rather quiet at home this month. When the weather is fine – which it usually is – I like to either breakfast outdoors or to enjoy my mid-morning tea in the garden. On this particular day I had baked banana muffins:

The bird feeders hang from a tree very close to where I like sitting in the shade:

I enjoy the early blossoms of the Vachellia karroo against the blue sky that is the norm for this time of the year:

It has been so very dry here that there has been no point planting either seeds or seedlings in my barren flower pots. A local fleshy weed has obliged to provide some greenery instead:

During the hot days and nights, the sound of crickets – mostly in the garden – is a common one. However, one evening, I found this large cricket perched on my butter dish in the kitchen:

Lastly, for now, even though I am reluctant to admit it, autumn is creeping closer and this is becoming more evident as the nights are a lot cooler than they used to be. For this reason, a large cup of tomato soup is most welcome:

SEEDS

Summer is over and, in spite of the continuing high temperatures during the day as well as uncomfortably warm temperatures at night, the sun rises much later now and sets far earlier than we would like. The oppressive heat and impressive build-up of clouds late this afternoon – which included a few very loud rumbles of thunder – yielded 1mm rain. So, autumn is here: far from being a “season of fruitfulness” in terms of harvesting vegetables [thank you drought] it is nonetheless a season of seeds. Here is a selection from my garden today:

These fluffy seeds come from a weed I have still to identify. This particular one grew over six feet tall – I was so awed by its height that I left it to grow in a crack outside the kitchen door.

The beautiful flowers of the Gladiolus dalenii have left these seed pods behind.

Then there are the Cape Gooseberries that have seeded themselves around the garden. Their sun-kissed golden fruit make a welcome addition to a fruit salad. Sadly, there have been so few of them so I wasn’t able to make jam this year.

A dwarf marigold has laid down its head, ready for the autumnal sleep. Its vibrantly coloured petals will continue to fade before falling off to reveal the short black seeds at its base. I hope they will fall on fertile ground next summer.

The pretty pink blossoms of the pompon trees shrivel to look like miniature paint brushes before they finally let go and drop to the ground. Many of these trees growing in our garden have grown from seed.

The scarlet seeds from the Erythrina caffra are beginning to litter our driveway – always showing up brightly against the piles of dry leaves swirling about in the breeze.

NOTHOSCORDUM INODORUM

Now that is a mouthful to use as a heading isn’t it? I wondered for years what these rather attractive white flowers are called until I happened to come across a reference to them in Common Weeds in South Africa by Mayda Henderson and Johan G. Anderson. This book, published by the Department of Agricultural Technical Services in 1966, has proved to be a boon to me so often.  According to the authors, Nothoscordum inodorum is a native of North America and is commonly known as Fragrant False Garlic in English and as Basterknoffel in Afrikaans. Other sources claim the plant originated in South America. It is also known as Nothoscordum borbonicum.

Another common name for the plant is Onion Weed, which I was to discover soon after our arrival in the Eastern Cape. These plants had seeded themselves all over our garden and I was taken aback when an elderly man, visiting us for the first time, exclaimed “Onion weed! What a pest!” as he began vigorously pulling them out of a narrow bed next to our front steps. Here some have taken over a flower pot.

What cannot be disputed is that this is an upright herb with a main underground bulb with many small bulbs attached to it – making these plants very difficult to remove ‘cleanly’ for some of these tiny bulbs tend to get left behind in the soil.  The leaves grow from the base and are linear, long, strap-like, smooth, and are mid- to dark green and glossy.

The long cylindrical flower stalks grow from the centre of the plant.

Here is a flower about to open.

The bell-like flowers appear in a small cluster at the tip of each stalk.

As I have discovered, it is a common weed around here, seen in gardens, along footpaths, in disturbed sites, as well as growing along roadsides. During this long drought period, I am pleased to have anything growing in my garden and simply don’t have the heart to set about trying to eradicate these – at least while they are flowering!

ALIEN AUDIT: SPIDERWORTS

This fast-spreading ground cover appeared in our garden about fifteen years ago. I suspect it came from the neighbouring garden, for it first appeared on our side of the dividing wall between us. At first it spread through the shady part of that bed, then ‘jumped’ the path and continued its relentless journey onwards and outwards. Within only a year or two it had completely covered what I call my shady ‘secret garden’ and has since spread into nooks and crannies all over the garden.

Of course it is great to have a ground cover that does not seem too perturbed by either drought or very cold weather. One might argue that having the spiderwort, Tradescantia zebrina is better than leaving the ground bare. It is not unattractive either: The leaves have purple undersides and the upper side has light and dark green – even silvery – stripes.

This import, originally hailing from Mexico is named after John Tradescant (1608-1662), who served as gardener to Charles I of England and, I imagine, the zebrina relates to zebra stripes. The small flowers have a lavender-pinkish hue and bloom intermittently throughout the year, usually unfolding one at a time in the morning and closing during the afternoon.

Unfortunately, this invasive weed is a particular problem in the Eastern Cape, where it has a tendency to invade moist, shaded sites, disturbed forests and stream banks. In my garden it doesn’t seem to mind if the light is bright or dappled – or even deeply shaded. While one can more or less keep it under control in a drought-stricken garden such as mine, a real problem arises when these plants get a hold in natural forests or in the veld – I have seen some growing along the edge of town as a result of the indiscriminate tossing away of garden debris.