Interesting Facts
Description
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]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Caryophyllidae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Caryophyllanae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Caryophyllales
(
)
- Perleb, 1826
- Suborder:
Portulacineae
(
)
- Family:
Portulacaceae
(
)
- Adanson, 1763 ex A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- pourpiers, purslane
- Genus:
Portulaca
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Purslane [Latin portula, little door, in reference to the lid of the capsule]
- Specific epithet:
decipiens
- Poelln.
- Botanical name: - Portulaca decipiens Poelln.
- Specific epithet:
decipiens
- Poelln.
- Genus:
Portulaca
(
- Family:
Portulacaceae
(
- Suborder:
Portulacineae
(
- Order:
Caryophyllales
(
- Superorder:
Caryophyllanae
(
- Subclass:
Caryophyllidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Synonyms
Portulaca Pilosa Decipiens
Notes
Publishing author : Poelln. Publication : Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis 33 1933 (15 Nov. 1933)
Similar Species
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
- Lu Dequan. 1996. Portulacaceae. In: Tang Changlin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 26: 3642.
- Legrand, C. D. 1962. Las especies Americanas de Portulaca. Anales Mus. Hist. Nat. Montevideo, ser. 2, 7: 1-147.
- Matthews, J. F. and P. A. Levins. 1985. The genus Portulaca in the southeastern United States. Castanea 50: 96-104.
- Walters, S. M. 1964. Portulaca. In: T. G. Tutin et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora Europaea. 5 vols. Cambridge. Vol. 1, p. 114.
- Wilson, P. 1932b. Portulaca. In: N. L. Britton et al., eds. 1905+. North American Flora.... 47+ vols. New York. Vol. 21, pp 328-336.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 8540380
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15795725
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:699168-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 53418-3
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1378439
Footnotes
- 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]
- James F. Matthews "Portulaca". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 457, 458, 496. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
