About Sesuvium maritimum (Walter) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.
Sesuvium maritimum is a succulent herb that can grow up to 30 cm tall. It has an opposite or sub-opposite leaf arrangement made up of simple, oblanceolate or linear fleshy leaves that measure around 1–2.5 cm long and 1–5 mm wide. Its leaves can be smooth and glabrous, or rarely minutely papillose, with dozens of fleshy projections called papillae. Leaf apexes can be rounded, acute, or obtuse, and leaf margins are entire. Flowers of this species are actinomorphic, with 4–5 fused petals that form a cup-like structure. Sepals are 2–3 mm long and attached near the top of the calyx tube. Each flower contains 5 usually pink stamens and a partially inferior ovary, and inflorescences are white or pink. This plant is most commonly found in coastal regions. Its distribution runs along the southeastern coast of North America from as far north as Rhode Island, through coastal eastern US states including Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas. It has also been recorded in Kansas and Oklahoma, and extends south to southern Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Bahamas, and other surrounding islands. Historically, this sea purslane was used medicinally to treat scurvy and venomous wounds. It is also one of several plant species that helps prevent coastal erosion.
