Pusleys

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to the edible succulent plants known as purslane in plural form ; denoting multiple creeping herbs from the Portulaca genus
2. Describing various prostrate, fleshy-leaved weeds commonly called purslane ; indicating several plants of the same herbaceous kind
3. Signifying more than one species of low-growing, often weedy herbs with juicy leaves identified as purslane ; referencing plants belonging to the Portulaca family in the plural

Etymology: "Pusleys" is simply the plural of "pusley," so the form tells us little beyond the fact that English speakers have treated the plant name as countable, with one pusley per species. The singular "pusley" is a variant of "purslane," the older and more common name for the same low, succulent weed, and the two words point back to the same source. The plural matters mostly to botanists and gardeners who need to distinguish the several members of the Portulaca genus, including the common weedy purslane and its ornamental relatives. In that usage, "pusleys" refers to a group of plants rather than to a single leaf-covered mat spreading across a garden bed.

Synonyms: pusley plants, weed plants