Sesuvium portulacastrumSea Purslane

Sesuvium portulacastrum is a genuine halophyte, and there are not many of those in a landscape catalogue. Fleshy stems run flat across sand, rooting as they go, carrying narrow succulent leaves that flush red in strong light and small pink star flowers for most of the year.

It grows in the splash zone of tropical coasts worldwide, holds sand in place, and will accept irrigation water too saline for anything else on the schedule. On a Gulf coastal project it is close to indispensable.

Specifications

• Height0.1 to 0.3 metres
• WidthSpreading 1 to 2 metres or more per plant on rooting stems
• Native toTropical and subtropical coasts worldwide
• FoliageNarrow, fleshy, succulent leaves on trailing stems, often flushing red in strong light; evergreen
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilGrows on pure sand, saline soils and disturbed coastal ground, provided drainage is free
• LightFull sun
• WaterLow; drought-tolerant once established and tolerant of saline irrigation
• ClimateThrives in tropical, subtropical and hot coastal regions

Additional Features

• FlowersSmall pink to purple star-shaped flowers borne almost continuously
• UsesDune and foreshore stabilisation, saline ground cover, coastal median and verge planting, and remediation of salt-affected soils
• SpacingPlant 4 to 6 per square metre for closed cover within a season
• Low MaintenanceRequires no feeding and little more than an occasional trim at the edges
• Pest ResistanceGenerally untroubled
• Salt ToleranceA true halophyte, growing in the coastal splash zone and tolerating seawater-influenced irrigation
• Drought ToleranceSucculent stems and leaves carry it through extended dry periods
• Erosion ControlRooting stems bind loose sand quickly and hold it in place

Sea Purslane is the ground cover for the hardest coastal ground on a site, growing where the salinity rules out everything else.