Portulaca amilis
Portulaca rubricaulis
Paraguayan purslane
redstem purslane
prostrate to suberect;
trichomes dense at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 5–25 cm.
erect or suberect, fleshy, succulent;
trichomes inconspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 5–35 cm.
blades oblanceolate, spatulate, or obovate, flattened, 5–30 × 2–12 mm, apex acute to submucronate; involucrelike leaves 6–8(–9).
blades linear to lanceolate, terete to hemispheric, 5–15 × 1–3(–5) mm, apex acute; involucrelike leaves (3–)5–8.
5–20 mm diam.;
petals pink to purple, obovate, 7–10 × 4–8 mm;
stamens 15–45;
stigmas 7–10.
9–15 mm diam.;
petals yellow, obovate to oval-obovate, 5–8 × 2–5 mm, apex rounded;
stamens 12–30;
stigmas 5–7.
ovoid, 2–5.5 mm diam.
subglobose, 3.3–5.5 mm diam.
black, orbiculate, flattened, 0.4–0.6 mm diam., shiny;
surface cells obscurely stellate, tuberculate to ± smooth.
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.
= 18.
= 16.
Portulaca amilis
Portulaca rubricaulis
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 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.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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