Think of purslane as a great alternative to lettuce: the leaves and stems are crisp, chewy, succulent, and they have a mild lemony taste.

The different vegetational parts differ in their food qualities: lower down, there are succulent, nutritious leaves; higher up are the harder stems.

The early explorers and settlers told of abundant deer in the early 1800s and yet almost in the same breath bemoaned the lack of this succulent game animal.