portulacn.
/ˈpɔːtjᵿlak/, /ˈpɔːtʃᵿlak/, U.S. /ˈpɔrtʃəˌlæk/ Now rare.
Purslane, Portulaca oleracea; (also) a purslane plant.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > culinary herbs > purslane
portulaca1400
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purpyc1485
pussley1775
moss rose1929
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 240 (MED) Þe pacient shal absteine him fro fleisch & fisch & vse lactucis, portulacis.
?a1425 (?1373) Lelamour Herbal (1938) f. 33 (MED) Helow is dry and colde..and sum men calliþ hym portulake oþer horshoo.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. 603 (MED) Taak wommans milk & Iuce of portulake.
a1576 W. Bullein Bulwarke Def. against all Sicknesse (1579) Index Pursleyn or Portulace.
1770 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. (1772) II. 93 Portulack (Portulaca oleracea) grows spontaneously here in great abundance.
1861 W. J. Wills Jrnl. 21 Apr. in A. Moorehead Cooper's Creek (1963) 99 I am inclined to think that but for the abundance of portulac that we obtained on the journey, we should scarcely have returned to Cooper's Creek.
1883 E. Palmer Plants N. Queensland 11 Portulaca oleracea..the common pigweed or portulac; grows after the wet season on the banks of rivers and on sand ridges in great quantities.
1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xxvii. 234 They helped their provisions by eating a good deal of a shrub known as portulac.
1989 Jerusalem Post 25 July 5/4 Spots..which are left empty are likely to be taken over by weeds, especially wild portulac.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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