Portulaca amilis
Portulaca pilosa
Paraguayan purslane
chisme, kiss-me-quick
prostrate to suberect;
trichomes dense at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 5–25 cm.
prostrate, suberect to erect, succulent;
trichomes conspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 3–25 cm.
blades oblanceolate, spatulate, or obovate, flattened, 5–30 × 2–12 mm, apex acute to submucronate; involucrelike leaves 6–8(–9).
blades linear to oblong-lanceolate, terete to hemispheric, 5–20 × 1–3 mm, apex acute; involucrelike leaves 6–9.
5–20 mm diam.;
petals pink to purple, obovate, 7–10 × 4–8 mm;
stamens 15–45;
stigmas 7–10.
5–12 mm diam.;
petals dark pink to purple, obovate, 3–5(–7) × 1.5–3 mm;
stamens 5–12(–37);
stigmas 3–5(–6).
ovoid, 2–5.5 mm diam.
ovoid, 1.5–4.3 mm diam.
black, orbiculate, flattened, 0.4–0.6 mm diam., shiny;
surface cells obscurely stellate, tuberculate to ± smooth.
black or leaden, orbiculate (0.4–)0.5–0.6 mm diam.;
surface cells loosely arranged, short-tuberculate and stellate to rounded-stellate;
tubercles long or absent.
= 18.
= 8, 16.
Portulaca amilis
Portulaca pilosa
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.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Portulaca pilosa is a highly variable species. It exhibits morphologic variability during development, with immature plants having wider (to 4 mm), longer, and flatter leaves than mature specimens. Mature leaves are narrower, shorter, and hemispheric or terete in cross section. The Linnaean drawing of the type specimen may be an immature plant. Morphologic variability also occurs in relation to habitat differences over the large geographic range of this species. Plants growing in dry habitats have the greatest density of hairs; plants growing in moist habitats are less pilose. Plants with very dense hairs on old growth will, under more moist conditions, produce new growth with fewer hairs. Growth habit is also affected by habitat. Plants growing in warm, moist environments tend to branch quickly into a spreading habit, with erect growth following secondarily. Plants in cool, dry habitats grow erect first, then branch more slowly; the plant then has a compact habit. Specimens from Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas exhibit all morphologic conditions. Those from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma usually occur in shallow, sandy soils, often on rocky outcrops, and are often highly branched, compact, short, and not very pilose.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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