Portulaca amilis
Portulaca suffrutescens
Paraguayan purslane
shrubby purslane
prostrate to suberect;
trichomes dense at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 5–25 cm.
stiffly erect, suffrutescent;
trichomes conspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches (8–)15–30 cm.
blades oblanceolate, spatulate, or obovate, flattened, 5–30 × 2–12 mm, apex acute to submucronate; involucrelike leaves 6–8(–9).
blades linear, terete, (4–)8–20(–30) × 0.5–2.8 mm, apex acute to subacute; involucrelike leaves 6–9.
5–20 mm diam.;
petals pink to purple, obovate, 7–10 × 4–8 mm;
stamens 15–45;
stigmas 7–10.
25 mm diam.;
petals orange, brown-orange, copper, or bronze, color often deepening at base, obcordate or emarginate, 7–12 × 4–5.5 mm;
stamens 25–35;
stigmas 4–7(–8).
ovoid, 2–5.5 mm diam.
subglobose, 2.5–5 mm diam.
black, orbiculate, flattened, 0.4–0.6 mm diam., shiny;
surface cells obscurely stellate, tuberculate to ± smooth.
leaden, slightly iridescent, 0.5–0.65 mm;
surface cells loosely arranged in distinct rows, raised, stellate, tubercles usually present.
= 18.
= 8.
Portulaca amilis
Portulaca suffrutescens
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.)
In the nonflowering condition, Portulaca suffrutescens resembles P. pilosa, although P. suffrutescens is stiffly erect. Another characteristic of this species is elongation of the internodes such that the overall impression of density of trichomes appears to be less than in P. pilosa. This feature will not be apparent in immature plants, or in those growing in dry conditions in which little internode elongation may have taken place. Immature seeds appear black, with rounded tubercles on the abaxial spine.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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