Photographs: Co. Cork

Water-purslane Lythrum portula Puirpín uisce Family: Lythraceae Flowering time: July-September. Annual. Native. Very small pinkish-white flowers growing from leaf-axils, the 6 petals either very small or absent. 12-toothed calyx. The small oval leaves are stalked and opposite. Creeping hairless stems are reddish-green and root at the nodes. Height/spread: stems 5-20 cm long. Found on damp bare ground on heaths, paths, ditches and the receding margins of water bodies. Most frequent in SW and the southern half of Ireland, scattered records from central Ireland

Water-purslane, Lythrum portula, Puirpín uisce