Native Grasses & Groundcovers

Sea purslane — Sesuvium portulacastrum

Sesuvium portulacastrum

Pollinator favourite Shelter for wildlife Resilient garden plant

$5.00

Planning a larger planting project? Contact me to discuss bulk pricing and plant availability.

In stock and available to order

Order online first, then we’ll contact you to arrange free pickup from Worongary on the Gold Coast or weekend delivery if eligible. Available options are shown at checkout. For more information, visit our pickup and delivery page.

Plant profile

At a glance

The essentials for finding the right garden position.

Mature size: Height: 0.1–0.3 m · Width: 1 m+
Light: Full sun
Water: Dry, Moist, Seasonally wet
Soil: Sandy, Clay
Drainage: Free-draining • Moderately drained
Vegetation type: Coastal, Wetlands / Swamps / Creek Margins
Plant lifespan: Long-lived perennial
Plant form: Grasses & Groundcovers

Plant ratings

A quick guide to this plant’s value for wildlife and the garden.

Bird food value
Pollinator value
Shelter & habitat value
Flower display
Garden resilience

About this plant

A prostrate succulent coastal groundcover with glossy fleshy leaves and small pink-purple flowers. It thrives in salty, sandy or muddy sites and is especially useful for stabilising exposed coastal gardens and saltmarsh-style plantings.

Image credits:
Mature image: Krzysztof Ziarnek via Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0
Feature image: Bob Peterson via Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 2.0

More plant details

Garden uses: Coastal groundcover, salt-tolerant garden, dune and bank stabilisation, erosion control, revegetation and habitat planting.
Wildlife value: Coastal mats provide foraging structure and occasional seed or invertebrate food for shore-associated birds. Small flowers are visited by bees, moths and other insects. Dense spreading mats provide low cover and stabilise habitat in harsh coastal sites.
Flowering and fruiting: Small pink to purple flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils through much of the warmer year, followed by capsules with black seeds.
Growth habit: Prostrate, node-rooting succulent perennial with stems to about 1 m long, often forming a broad mat.
Cautions: Can spread wherever stems contact moist soil. Coastal food uses are reported, but plants should only be eaten after confident identification and from uncontaminated sites.