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Portulaca rubricaulis

(Redstem Purslane)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Redstem 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 rubricaulis

Plants annual ; roots fleshy . Stems erect or suberect, fleshy, succulent; trichomes inconspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence; branches 5-35 cm. Leaf blades linear to lanceolate, terete to hemispheric , 5-15 × 1-3(-5) mm, apex acute; involucrelike leaves (3-) 5-8. Flowers 9-15 mm diam.; petals yellow, obovate to oval-obovate, 5-8 × 2-5 mm, apex rounded ; stamens 12-30; stigmas 5-7. Capsules subglobose, 3.3-5.5 mm diam. Seeds brownish red, dark brown, or rarely black, orbiculate or elongate , flattened, 0.6-0.65 mm; surface cells slightly raised, obscurely stellate , sometimes granular , tubercles absent. 2n = 16. [source]

Portulaca rubricaulis traditionally has been treated as P. phaeosperma (J. K . Small 1933). C. D. Legrand (1962) and R. P. Wunderlin (1982) consider the types of P. phaeosperma and P. rubricaulis to be conspecific . Only the yellow-flowered form has been seen in the United States; Legrand reported a salmon or orange-red to red form from the Caribbean. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

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

Habitat

Coastal beaches and shell mounds; 0 m [3].

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of -721 meters (-2,365 feet).[4]

Biome: Coastal.

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Annual

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Portulaca neglecta Mackenzie & Bush • Portulaca oleracea granulatostellulata (Poelln.) Danin & Baker • Portulaca oleracea impolita Danin & Baker • Portulaca oleracea nicaraguensis Danin & Baker • Portulaca oleracea nitida Danin & Baker • Portulaca oleracea papillatostellulata Danin & Baker • Portulaca oleracea stellata Danin & Baker • Portulaca phaeosperma Urban • Portulaca retusa Engelm.

Notes

Publishing author : Kunth Publication : Nov. Gen. Sp. [H.B.K.] 6: ed. fol. 58, ed. qu. 73 1823

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 December 18, 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 rubricaulis". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 496, 497, 499, 500. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  4. Standard Deviation = 1,801.880 based on 41 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012