Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Moss Rose, Portulaca
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]
Physical Description
Flowers: Flower Color: apricot, coral , mauve , pink, rose
Size/Age/Growth
Size: under 6" tall.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 18-24" apart.
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .
Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High
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:
grandiflora
- Hook.
- Cultivar:
Sundial Mango
- Botanical name: - Portulaca grandiflora 'Sundial Mango' Hook.
- Cultivar:
Sundial Mango
- Specific epithet:
grandiflora
- Hook.
- Genus:
Portulaca
(
- Family:
Portulacaceae
(
- Suborder:
Portulacineae
(
- Order:
Caryophyllales
(
- Superorder:
Caryophyllanae
(
- Subclass:
Caryophyllidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
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
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1000286
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]
