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Portulaca amilis

(Paraguayan Purslane)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Paraguayan Purslane

Description

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Family Portulacaceae

Herbs annual or perennial , rarely ± shrubby, usually succulent, usually glabrous except for nodal hairs and/or scales . Leaves alternate or opposite; true stipules absent, nodes sometimes with axillary scales and/or hairs; petiole usually poorly defined or absent; leaf blade simple , usually fleshy , margin entire. Inflorescences usually terminal , less often axillary , in cymes or racemelike panicles, forming heads of sessile flowers surrounded by an involucre of leaves, or reduced to solitary flowers. Bracts inconspicuous. Flowers bisexual , very rarely unisexual , actinomorphic . Sepals 2, free or basally connate , herbaceous or scarious . Petals 4-6 or seldom more, distinct or basally connate, imbricate, often brightly colored , usually short lived. Disk usually absent. Stamens 4-100, free, fascicled, or adnate to petals; filaments linear ; anthers 2-loculed, introrse , dehiscence longitudinal . Ovary superior or half-inferior, 1-loculed, 2-5-carpellate; ovules 1 to many, campylotropous; placentation basal or free-central . Style linear; stigma 2-9-lobed. Fruit a thin-walled capsule, circumscissile or 2- or 3-valved, rarely a nut, often globose or subglobose, smooth . Seeds many, reniform or globose, caruncle present or not; endosperm mostly copious , surrounded by embryo.

About 19 genera and 500 species: mainly in more arid regions of S hemisphere, especially Africa, South America, and Australia, fewer species in Asia, Europe, and North America; two genera (one introduced ) and six species (two endemic, two introduced) in China.[1]

Genus Portulaca

Herbs, annual (perennial in P. suffrutescens). Roots tuberous , fleshy , fibrous , or small taproots . Stems erect to prostrate , branched, fleshy or suffrutescent ; trichomes in inflorescence or stem nodes absent or present, glabrous otherwise. Leaves alternate or subopposite, congested and involucrelike immediately proximal to inflorescence; blade terete , subterete, or flattened. Inflorescences terminal in clusters , or axillary on short branches. Flowers sessile or subsessile , usually open only in sunshine; sepals broadly clasping at base , herbaceous to scarious , falling from top of capsule; petals ephemeral , 5-7, usually distinct , margins usually entire; stamens (4-) 6-40(-100) ; ovary half inferior to inferior, plurilocular proximally to 1-locular distally, placentation free-central ; style 1, short, stigmas 3-8(-18). Capsules membranaceous , chartaceous , dehiscence circumscissile. Seeds many, brown to black or gray, reniform to cochleate; seed coat smooth or variously sculptured , granular to stellate-tuberculate or spiny . x = 4, 5, 8, 9.

Species 100-125: nearly worldwide, primarily tropical and subtropical , also temperate .[2]

Physical Description

Species Portulaca amilis

Plants annual ; roots fibrous . Stems prostrate to suberect; trichomes dense at nodes and in inflorescence; branches 5-25 cm. Leaf blades oblanceolate , spatulate , or obovate , flattened, 5-30 × 2-12 mm, apex acute to submucronate; involucrelike leaves 6-8(-9). Flowers 5-20 mm diam.; petals pink to purple, obovate, 7-10 × 4-8 mm; stamens 15-45; stigmas 7-10. Capsules ovoid , 2-5.5 mm diam. Seeds black, orbiculate, flattened, 0.4-0.6 mm diam., shiny; surface cells obscurely stellate , tuberculate to ± smooth . 2n = 18. [source]

Prior to 1981, Portulaca amilis had been included conceptually within P. pilosa (A. E. Radford et al. 1968). However, W. S. Judd and R. P. Wunderlin (1981) correctly identified P. amilis as an introduction from South America. It tends to occur in the sandy soils at the junction of the coastal plain and the piedmont provinces , but it is also spreading north and south through the coastal plain, where it has exhibited a weedy nature, as shown by collection data from Virginia to Florida. Portulaca amilis has only pink to purple petals in the United States; C. D. Legrand (1962) reported a yellow form of the species in South America. A. F. Clewell (1985) incorrectly gave the petal color of P. amilis as yellow. J. F. Matthews and P. A. Levins (1985) traced the spread of the species in the southeast and theorized as to the means of introduction. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October.

Habitat

Fields , granitic outcrops, disturbed habitats ; 0-200 m [3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 238 meters (0 to 781 feet).[4]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Annual

Taxonomy

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Notes

Publishing author : Speg. Publication : An. Soc. Cient. Argent. xcii. 104 1921

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Portulaca

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 64 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

P. afra variegata (Elephant Bush) · P. amilis (Paraguayan Purslane) · P. biloba (Cuban Purslane) · P. caulerpoides (Puerto Rico Purslane) · P. fruticosa (Verdolaga-Francesa) · P. grandiflora (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Duet Candy Stripe' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Duet Golden Sunrise' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Duet Rose Improved' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Duet Yellow' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Giant Bicolor Radiance' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Giant Pink Radiance' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Margarita Mix' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Margarita Orange' (Margarita Orange Portulaca) · P. grandiflora 'Margarita Rosita' (Margarita Rosita Portulaca) · P. grandiflora 'Margarita Scarlet' (Margarita Scarlet Portulaca) · P. grandiflora 'Rouge Rubis' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Sundial Mango' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Sundial Mix' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Rose With Red Eye' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Apricot' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Light Pink' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Orange' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Pink' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Rose' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Rose With Red Eye' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Scarlet' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy White' (Moss Rose) · P. grandiflora 'Yubi Summer Joy Wine Red' (Moss Rose) · P. halimoides (Silk-Cotton Purslane) · P. lanceolata umbraticola (Wingpod Purslane) · P. lutea (Native Yellow Purslane) · P. molokiniensis ('ihi) · P. oleracea oleracea (Akulikuli-Kula) · P. oleracea var. sativa (Kitchen-Garden Purslane) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi Gold' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi Lemon Yellow' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi Orange' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi Pink' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi Purple and Yellow' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi Rose' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi Sunset Red' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Double Yubi White' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Goldberg' (Little Hogweed) · P. oleracea 'Yubi Yellow' (Little Hogweed) · P. pilosa (Chisme) · P. quadrifida (Chickenweed) · P. rubricaulis (Redstem Purslane) · P. sativa (Golden Purslane) · P. sativa 'Goldgelber' (Golden Purslane) · P. sclerocarpa ('ihi Makole) · P. smallii (Small's Purslane) · P. suffrutescens (Shrubby Purslane) · P. teretifolia (Roundleaf Purslane) · P. triangularis (Verdolaga-Francesa) · P. umbraticola (Wing-Pod Purslane) · P. umbraticola subsp. coronata (Wingpod Purslane) · P. villosa (Hairy Purslane) · P. 'Fairytale Cinderella' (Double Portulaca) · P. 'Fairytale Sleeping Beauty' (Double Portulaca) · P. 'Fairytale Snow White' (Double Portulaca) · P. 'Giant Jewel' (Portulaca) · P. 'Sunnyside Mix' (Portulaca) · P. 'Tequila Fuchsia' (Moss Rose)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 22, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Dequan Lu & Michael G. Gilbert "Portulacaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 442. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. James F. Matthews "Portulaca". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 457, 458, 496. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Portulaca amilis". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 496, 497, 498. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  4. Mean = 60.440 meters (198.294 feet), Standard Deviation = 65.570 based on 36 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012