Object: Purslane - Portulaca sp.

Object Type(s)
Description

Purslane (Portulaca sp.) was enjoyed as a salad herb.   Pigs love Purslane, and given the number of pigs in New Amsterdam busy keeping the streets clean, it is likely that they ate most of it in the fronts of the houses, but the gardens would have had a great deal of it.   Purslane loves to grow in garden paths, especially if straw is used.

See a detailed article on the archeology of plant life in New Amsterdam by Joel Grossman, PhD. here.  Courtesy of the Holland Society of New York.