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Honckenya
Also called Sea Sandwort, Seaside Sandwort
Sandplant (Honckenya peploides, the only species in its genus) is a low, spreading, succulent perennial that forms patches on sand and shingle just above the high-water line of beaches. The key to growing it is full sun, sharply drained sandy soil, and very little water.
Honckenya peploides, the sea sandwort (UK) or seaside sandplant (Canada), is the only species in the genus Honckenya of the plant family Caryophyllaceae. Other common names include sea chickweed, sea pimpernal, sea-beach sandwort, and sea purslane. The scientific name is often spelled "Honkenya", and is named after the German botanist Gerhard August Honckeny (or Honkeny). This plant has a circumboreal distribution.
The plant is a succulent perennial growing at the edge of the sea. It has small greenish white pentamerous flowers with 10 stamens in the male flowers borne in the leaf axils. The fruit capsule opens in three valves.
Honckenya peploides has a circum-boreal distribution in both temperate and arctic regions. It is found in coastal regions on sand, shingle and pebbles, in northern Europe (including Britain), northern Asia and North America.
Both the leaves and the seeds of H. peploides are used as food. The shoots and leaves are rich in vitamin A and vitamin C and can be used as a green leafy vegetable either raw or cooked. They can also be fermented to prepare a sauerkraut-like preserve, and in Iceland are fermented in whey to produce a drink. The seeds are small in size and time-consuming to gather; they can be ground up and added to flour or used as a garnish.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Honckenya by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
