Sea Purslane

a succulent plant with small purple flowers in sand
( Forest & Kim Starr, Wikimedia Commons)

Like sea beans, sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum) is a flowering succulent. The short plant lives in sandy coastline and salty marshlands throughout much of the world. Native Americans in Florida ate it raw, cooked, or pickled, and in the Philippines it is called atchara when pickled. Scientists in Florida are experimenting with growing sea purslane as a way to absorb excess nutrients from fish aquaculture tanks with the hope to then sell the sea purslane as produce.