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As regards Aboriginal use of the plant, women of the Western Desert tribes prepare damper cakes from the seeds of the plant in the following way (details supplied by Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara informants - see, for example, Punu: Yankunytjatjara Plant Use, compiled and edited by Cliff Goddard and Arpad Kalotas): The uprooted plants with mature, seed-laden capsules are left to dry out in a container for a few days to release the numerous small seeds. These are then winnowed and shaken out on a shallow dish or piece of bark to remove the small capsule pieces. The cleaned seed is then ground to a paste and small damper cakes are baked in hot sand, ashes and coals. One square metre of the plant typi- cally produces about a heaped tablespoon of the seeds. The seeds themselves compare favourably with wheat in nutritional value. Traditional use of the plant in Europe also focuses on its culi- nary aspect, but rather than viewing it as a source of grain or flour, it is used as a vegetable in salads, soups and pickles. The succulent leaves and young stems are eaten fresh for their cooling properties in spring and summer salads, whereas the older shoots are used as a pot-herb. The thick stems of plants that have run to seed are pick- led in salt and vinegar for later use, sauerkraut-style, in winter sal- ads. In French cuisine, Portulaca is combined in equal proportions with Sorrel to make the well-known soup, bonne femme. Contrasting with traditional Aboriginal and European uses, the main use of Portulaca in China is for medicinal purposes cally for dysentery and enteritis, and also for append: published in China have shown how, in clinical studies involving thousands of subjects, a decoction of fresh Portulaca decreases dramatically the rate of bacillary dysentery in those exposed dur- ing epidemics. Overall, the plant was found to be about as effec- tive as sulfa drugs in treating acute or recurrent bacillary dysentery - over 90% effective in acute cases and about 60% effective in chronic cases. Again, with appendicitis, a decoction prepared from equal parts of Portulaca and Dandelion root was used to treat 31 cases of clin- ically diagnosed appendicitis. Of these, only one patient needed surgery; all the others recovered uneventfully. The use of Portulaca for dysentery is as follows: Steam 550g of fresh Portulaca oleracea for 3-4 minutes, then mash to get about 150ml of concentrated liquid. Take 5Oml twice a day. Given these sorts of examples, you begin to appreciate how the use of plants can vary quite dramatically from one culture to NEXUS - 16 Portulaca or Purslane Portulaca or Purslane Portulaca oleracea another. Indeed, Portulaca and Ginger are just two of many plants that can be understood this way. Gregory Ah Ket, BA, MNHAA, is a herbalist who prac - tises in Melbourne. Ph (03) 500 9328. He is the author of HERBAL TREATMENT FOR COMMON AILMENTS, recently published by Compendium Pty Ltd. and avail - able at leading bookshops and newsagents. Mail Orders available at $16.95 per copy plus $3 P&P, from Blake & Wasson’s Bookshop, GPO Box 1591, Melbourne, Vic, 3001. Copyright (c) Gregory Ah Ket 1990. YEAR BOOK - FEBRUARY 1991