purslane
(ˈpɜːslən)
Forms: α. 4–5 purcelan(e, 6 -laine, -layne, -lline, -llyne, perseline, purselane, 6–7 -lain(e, 7 -lan, -lyn, purcellane. β. 5 porsulaigne, porceleyne, 6 -laine, -lene, -layn(e, -line, -llyne, 6–7 -lane. γ. 5– purslane; also (5 poslane), 6 purslayne, -lin, -land, pourslane, 7 purslan, -lein, pursslen, 6–9 purslain(e.
[a. OF. porcelaine (a 1300 in Godef.), pourcelaine (still in Cotgr.), = It. porcellana (Florio); identical in form with the Fr. and It. words for porcelain, q.v., and app. altered, by assimilation to that word, from L. porcil(l)āca, used by Pliny for the more usual L. portulāca (which is taken in botany as the name of the genus).]
1. A low succulent herb, Portulaca oleracea, widely distributed throughout tropical and warmer temperate regions, used in salads, and sometimes as a pot-herb, or for pickling. Also called common or garden purslane. Formerly cultivated in English kitchen gardens, but now rarely met with.
| α a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 34/1 Portulaca..purcelan. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cyrurg. 95 (Ashm. MS.) Wiþ ius of purcelane [Add. MS. poslane] or of sum oþere cold eerbe. 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 122 The Purselaine is much harmed by a long drooght. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 31 Leaues..not much vnlike to Purcelaine. 1590 Spenser Muiopotmos 199 Fat Colworts, and comforting Perseline. 1620 J. Mason New-found-land (1887) 149 Of herbes there are likewise lettise, purselyn, etc. 1651 Biggs New Disp. 36 ¶72 If Purselan or some other herbe were observed to do the like. |
| β a 1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 10/2 Andrago,..portacla, portulaca idem, g⊇. et angl. porceleyne. Ibid. 149/2 Portulaca uel portacla,..porsulaigne. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters B iv, Water of porcelayn..is good for a person that spetteth blod. 1538 Turner Libellus, Portulaca,..ab anglis Porcellyne dicitur. 1551 ― Herbal ii. 103 Som vse porcellayn as a meat. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 17 Let the same drincke water of Buglosse and Porcelene. 1597 Gerarde Herbal cxl. §2. 419 Called..in English Purslane and Porcelaine. |
| γ c 1400 Poslane [see α]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 417/1 Purslane, herbe, portulaca. 1530 Palsgr. 259 Purslayne.., povrselayne. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 23 b, Pourslane dothe mitigate the great heat in al the inward partes of the bodye. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 53 b, The Cucumber and the Gourd [come] the fifth daie, Purslin [is] longer ere it come. 1633 in Naworth Househ. Bks. 319 To Mrs. Orfeur's maide bringinge pursslen to my Ladie, ijs. 1634 R. H. Salernes Regim. 145 To destroy Warts, nothing is better then to rubbe them with Purslaine. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. 64 Sow also Lettuce, Purslan, Radish. 1693 ― De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 199 Purslain is one of the prettiest Plants in Kitchen-gardens, which is principally used in Sallets, and sometimes in Pottages. 1796 C. Marshall Garden. (1813) xvi. 272 Purslane is a low growing succulent herb. 1864 Hawthorne S. Felton (1883) 355 Rose ate her frugal dinner (consisting chiefly of purslain, and some other garden herbs). 1857 Gray First Less. Bot. (1866) 15 Sometimes the embryo is coiled around the outside, in the form of a ring, as in the Purslane. |
2. With qualification, denoting other species of
Portulaca; also other plants similar in appearance or qualities to the Garden Purslane.
a. crimson-flowered purslane,
P. Thellussoni;
red-flowered p.,
P. splendens;
yellow-flowered p.,
P. aurea.
b. black purslane of N. America,
Euphorbia Preslii;
horse-p. of the West Indies,
Trianthema monogyna;
milk-p.,
Euphorbia maculata;
mud-p.,
Elatine americana;
rock-p., the genus
Calandrinia;
sea-p.,
Atriplex portulacoides, and
Arenaria peploides; (of the West Indies),
Sesuvium Portulacastrum;
Siberian p.,
Claytonia sibirica;
water-p.,
Peplis Portula, and
Isnardia palustris; (of America),
Ludwigia palustris;
winter-p.,
Claytonia perfoliata;
wild-p.,
Euphorbia Peplis.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. xx. 575 Sea Purcelayne groweth vpon bankes..adioyning to the sea. Ibid. 575 The garden & wilde Purcelayne, do flower from after the moneth of June, vntill September. 1597 Gerarde Herbal cxl. ¶i. 418 There be diuers sortes or kindes of Purslane; one of the garden, and another wilde: and also two of the sea. 1678 Phillips s.v., Besides the common sort there are two others, viz. The Sea Purslane, called Halimus, and the Water Purslane, called Alsine. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 324 Horse Purslane, Trianthema. Ibid., Tree Sea Purslane, Atriplex. Ibid., Water Purslane, Peplis. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1844 A considerable quantity of wild purslain, long-wort, pease, &c. 1857 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. I. 198 The Sea Purslane (Arenaria peploides). Ibid. IV. 277 A[triplex] portulacoides (Shrubby Orache, or Sea Purslane)..is a plant having a woody stem, and foliage of silvery whiteness, and much succulence. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
purslane leaf,
purslane-leaved adj.,
poultice,
seed, etc.;
purslane-moth, a zygænid moth (
Copidryas gloveri) of North America;
purslane sphinx, an American moth (
Deilephila lineata) which feeds upon the leaves of purslane, etc.;
purslane-tree,
† (
a) ? the wild arbutus (after
Gr. ἀνδράχνη purslane, also arbutus); (
b) a South African shrub,
Portulacaria afra;
purslane-worm, the larva of the purslane moth, which feeds on wild purslane.
| 1855 Delamer Kitch. Gard. (1860) 134 In proportion as the traveller approaches the German frontier, the more *purslane-leaves will he find in his vegetable soups. |
| 1822 Hortus Angl. II. 15 C. Halimifolius. *Purslane-leaved Cistus. |
| 1818 Art Preserv. Feet 50 A third ensures you a happy relief from *purslain poultices chopped up with vinegar. |
| c 1550 Lloyd Treas. Health L vij, *Pursland sede..kylleth the wormes. 1664 Evelyn Sylva 61 An even Bed, which being made of fine earth, clap down with your Spade, as Gard'ners do for Purselain-seed. |
| 1878 T. W. Harris Insects Injur. Veget. 638 *Purslane sphinx. |
| 1604 B. Jonson Cornwallis's Entertainm. 60 Under yond' *purslane tree stood sometime my cradle. 1773 Johnson (ed. 4), Purslan⁓tree, a shrub proper to hedge with. 1794 T. Taylor Pausanias's Descr. Greece III. 48 In the temple of Promachos the remains of a purslain⁓tree are dedicated. |