Alice Springs Desert Park
Alice Springs Desert ParkFauna Flora Nature Theatre Nocturnal House
The Buttercup Pigweed (Portulaca intraterranea) is a small succulent that is very similar to Portulaca oleracea. Also known as pigface, Portulaca intraterranea is part of the collective group of plants commonly called purslane.
A sprawling plant that is native to arid desert regions of Central Australia. The succulent leaves are flat and hairless with blunt ends, approximately 0.5-2.5 cm long, 4-10 mm wide. The conspicuous flowers are yellow, with 5 notched petals.
This large pigweed has thick taproot that is eaten and tastes like potato.
| WARNING Extreme care must be taken when identifying edible food plants and those used in bush medicine. Some bush foods are only edible at different stages of the plant cycle, or when treated appropriately. Bush medicine should only be used under the guidance of a qualified physician. Information here is only provided for research. You should always seek experts in the field to confirm the identification of the plant and whether they are edible or appropriate. |
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Clade: Tracheophytes
- Clade: Angiosperms
- Clade: Eudicots
- Order: Caryophyllales
- Family: Portulacaceae
- Genus: Portulaca
- Species: Portulaca intraterranea
ASDP FloraBatswing Coral Tree Blue Mallee Bush Banana Buttercup Pigweed Dead Finish Desert Grevillea Desert Oak Desert Raisin Field Lily Georges Indigo Golden Everlasting Honey Grevillea Kangaroo Grass Lamarchea sulcata Native Apricot Native Bluebell Native Cotton Bush Native Tomato Olearia ferresii Nicotiana megalosiphon subsp sessilifolia Parrot Pea Pink Everlasting Poached Egg Daisy Potato Vine Quandong Rattlepod Grevillea Red-bud Mallee Red Mulga Resurrection Fern Rough Halgania Sandover Lily Silkyheads Spearwood Bush Sturt’s Desert Pea Waddy-wood Walukara Weeping Spinifex White Spider Flower Wild Passionfruit Wildflower Display
Alice Springs Desert ParkFauna Flora Nature Theatre Nocturnal House