Sesuvium
(signification of name unknown, probably arbitrary). ORD. Ficoideae. A small genus (about four species) of stove or greenhouse, erect or prostrate, branched, succulent herbs or sub-shrubs, scattered over tropical sea-shores. Flowers often flesh-coloured or purple, axillary, sessile or pedunculate, solitary, clustered, or rarely sub-cymose; calyx tube turbinate, the five lobes coloured within; petals absent; stamens five. Leaves opposite, slightly fleshy, linear or oblong; stipules none, or sometimes connate with the petiole in a stipulaeform membrane. S. Portulacastrum and S. repens are both edible as potherbs, but have a rather salt taste. Two species, both greenhouse, decumbent perennials, call for description here. These thrive in any well-drained, sandy soil. Propagated freely by slightly dried cuttings, inserted in similar soil, under a glass. Water must be sparingly administered. S. Portulacastrum (Portulacastrum). Sea Purslane; Samphire or Seaside Purslane of the West Indies. fl. pedicellate; calyx green outside, reddish within; stamens twenty-five to thirty. June and July. l. linear or lanceolate-oblong, flat. 1692. (A. B. R. 201, under name of Aizoon canariense.) The variety sessile has sessile flowers.
S. revolutifolium (revolute-leaved). fl. red and white, sessile; stamens very numerous; stigmas five or six. July and August. l. ovate-oblong, with revolute margins, rather glaucous, not deep green. Cuba. (B. M. 1701, under name of S. Portulacastrum var.)