Purslane
Broadleaf weed
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a warm-season, succulent annual broadleaf weed found across most of the United States. Gardeners and growers notice it because it spreads fast in warm weather, thrives in the same rich, moist soil that vegetables need, and produces an enormous number of long-lived seeds from a single plant.
How to identify it
Purslane grows low and flat, forming a dense mat that radiates out from a central point, usually under a few inches tall but often 1 to 2 feet across. The stems are smooth, thick, and fleshy, often tinged reddish or purple, and the leaves are small, thick, and paddle-shaped, clustered toward the stem tips like tiny succulent spoons. Small yellow flowers with five petals open only in bright sun, usually late morning, and give way to tiny capsules packed with fine black seeds. It has a slender taproot with shallow, fibrous side roots, and broken stem pieces can take root again where they land.
Where it grows
Purslane favors warm, open, disturbed ground and shows up in vegetable gardens, flower beds, lawns, cropland, sidewalk cracks, and along field edges. It germinates once soils warm in late spring and keeps sprouting and growing through summer and early fall. It spreads mainly by seed, a single plant can set tens of thousands of seeds that stay viable in the soil for many years, and it also spreads when cut or pulled stem fragments re-root in moist soil.
Why it is a problem
Because it grows quickly and forms thick mats, purslane competes with young crops and vegetables for water, nutrients, and space, and can smother slow-starting seedlings. Its huge, long-lived seed bank means one season of uncontrolled plants can lead to years of return infestations. Left on the soil surface after weeding, uprooted plants can keep ripening seed and re-root, making a light problem worse.
How to manage it
Hand pull or hoe purslane while plants are young and before the yellow flowers appear, since removing it early prevents seed set and keeps the seed bank from growing. Carry pulled plants out of the garden and dispose of them rather than leaving them on the soil, because stems and even flowered plants can re-root or finish setting seed on the ground. A layer of organic mulch or landscape fabric blocks light and greatly reduces germination in beds, and shallow cultivation on hot, dry days lets seedlings dry out and die on the surface. Over the long term, dense, healthy turf and closely spaced, vigorous crops shade the soil and leave little open ground for purslane to establish.
Commonly confused with
It is most often confused with prostrate spurge, which has thinner leaves and releases a milky sap when a stem is broken, while purslane has thick succulent leaves and clear watery sap. It also resembles its ornamental relative moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora), which has narrow, needle-like leaves and showier flowers.
General guidance for US lawns and gardens, focused on prevention and non-chemical control. For a confirmed identification and options specific to your area, contact your local Cooperative Extension office. Page updated Aug 4, 2026.