Portulaca amilis
Portulaca umbraticola
Paraguayan purslane
wing-pod purslane
prostrate to suberect;
trichomes dense at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 5–25 cm.
prostrate to suberect;
trichomes sparse at nodes and in inflorescence, stems otherwise glabrous;
branches 5–20 cm.
blades oblanceolate, spatulate, or obovate, flattened, 5–30 × 2–12 mm, apex acute to submucronate; involucrelike leaves 6–8(–9).
blades obovate, spatulate, or sometimes lanceolata, flattened, 10–35 × 2–15 mm, apex rounded to truncate; involucrelike leaves 4–5.
5–20 mm diam.;
petals pink to purple, obovate, 7–10 × 4–8 mm;
stamens 15–45;
stigmas 7–10.
8–15 mm diam.;
petals yellow or yellow tipped with red or copper, spatulate or obovate, 5–10 × 3–6 mm, apex acute or cuspidate;
stamens 7–30;
stigmas (3–)5–18.
ovoid, 2–5.5 mm diam.
obovoid or turbinate, 3–5 mm diam., with encircling, expanded, membranaceous wing 0.5–1.5 mm wide proximal to suture.
black, orbiculate, flattened, 0.4–0.6 mm diam., shiny;
surface cells obscurely stellate, tuberculate to ± smooth.
gray, round or elongate, flattened, 0.5–1 mm;
surface cells stellate with long tubercles.
= 18.
Portulaca amilis
Portulaca umbraticola
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.)
Subspecies 3 (2 in the flora).
Portulaca umbraticola is a common weedy species of the southwestern United States, while in the southeastern United States it is usually restricted to sandy soils of granitic and sandstone outcrops. In 1982–1983, a new cultivar was introduced to the United States in hanging baskets, under the name Portulaca umbraticola ‘Wildfire Mixed,’ which appears to be selected from material from South America. There is no seed surface variability in any of the three subspecies.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Petals entirely yellow | subsp. coronata |
1. Petals yellow tipped with red (copper) | subsp. lanceolata |
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