General: Sea Purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum) is a perennial forb that looks much like ice plant, to which it is related. The plant is branched from the base and spreads out laterally to several feet across. The fleshy stems and leaves are covered with tiny papillae that are crystalline in appearance (like tiny sand grains). Purple, 5-petaled flowers are produced in the spring.

Sea Purslane is an uncommon component of vegetation communities on seasonally flooded mud flats and alkali areas in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. Around Las Vegas, look for this species in the Death Valley region, especially in the Amargosa Narrows.

Family: Ice Plant (Aizoaceae).

Other Names: sea-purslane, western sea purslane, Sesuvium erectum.

Plant Form: Perennial forb.

Height: To several inches.

Stems: Fleshy, green, covered with tiny papillae.

Leaves: Fleshy, flat, may clasp the stem, covered with tiny papillae.

Flowers: Blooms in the spring. Flowers solitary, axillary, sessile. Petals 5, purple; stamens many, filaments purple.

Seeds:

Habitat: Dry lake beds, alkali flats.

Elevation: To about 4,000 feet.

Distribution: Throughout the southwestern U.S. from Oregon to Louisiana.

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