 seedling |
 plant |
 young plant |
Common Purslane
Life cycle: Annual
Leaves: Smooth, thick, glossy, oval-shaped
Stems: Prostrate, reddish-purple to peach colored, branching from one middle root
Flowers: Yellow flowers
Roots: Long taproot
Comments: Leaves and stems edible, may be used in salads or other dishes. Can be a difficult weed to control with herbicide.
Control
Cultural: Bedding or mulch in landscapes and gardens. Dig up and remove purslane plants from the garden as shoot segments may develop roots.
Foliar Herbicides: Products that contain 2,4-D and dicamba (Weed-B-Gone Max, Trimec, WeedStop, and others), or fluroxypyr (Spotlight). Carfentrazone (QuickSilver) may be a good option in new lawn plantings where Kentucky bluegrass has been emerged for at least 7 days.
Soil Herbicides: For landscapes, may use isoxaben (Gallery or Portrait). In gardens, trifluralin (Preen) or corn gluten meal (Preen Vegetable Garden Weed Preventer) may provide some suppression. In lawns, soil herbicides for crabgrass, such as dithiopyr (Dimension) or pendimethalin (Pendulum and many others) will also suppress common purslane.