Portulaca oleracea
Portulaca grandiflora
common purslane, little hogweed, purslane
cultivated purslane, moss-rose, rock rose, rose moss
prostrate, succulent;
trichomes at nodes and in inflorescence absent or inconspicuous;
branches to 56 cm.
prostrate to suberect;
trichomes conspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches to 30 cm.
blades obovate or spatulate, flattened, 4–28 × 2–13 mm, apex round to retuse or nearly truncate; involucrelike leaves 1–4.
blades linear to lanceolate, terete to hemispheric, 5–30 × 1–5 mm, apex acute or subacute; involucrelike leaves 8–9(–14).
3–10 mm diam.;
petals yellow, oblong, 3–4.6 × 1.8–3 mm;
stamens 6–12(–20);
stigmas 3–6.
25–55 mm diam.;
petals pink, red, purple, yellow, bronze, or white, obovate, 15–25 × 15–20 mm;
stamens 40 or more;
stigmas 5–8.
ovoid, 4–9 mm diam.
ovoid, (3.5–)4–6.5 mm diam.
black or dark brown, orbiculate or elongate, flattened, 0.6–1.1 mm;
surface cells ± smooth, granular, or stellate, with rounded tubercles.
steely gray, often iridescent, orbiculate or elongate, flattened, 0.75–1 mm diam.;
surface cells obscurely stellate with tubercles mostly abaxially.
= 18, 36, 54.
= 18.
Portulaca oleracea
Portulaca grandiflora
A. P. Simopoulos and N. Salem Jr. (1986) and A. P. Simopoulos et al. (1992) have shown Portulaca oleracea to have the highest content of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants of any green leafy vegetable examined to date, suggesting that common purslane should be considered for its nutritional value and not for its weediness. It has long been used as fodder and may have been present in the New World in pre-Columbian times (R. Byrne and J. H. McAndrews 1975). Currently, it is fed to poultry to reduce egg cholesterol.
Portulaca oleracea is a highly variable species with worldwide distribution in temperate to warm regions and is the most winter-hardy of all the portulacas. It is a very aggressive weed, one of the ten most noxious weeds worldwide (J. S. Singh and K. P. Singh 1967). As such, many variants have been named (C. D. Legrand 1962) based on seed surface differences, size of seeds, or on variable characters of growth habit, leaf length, and number of stamens. Seven subspecies were recognized by A. Danin et al. (1978): subsp. oleracea, subsp. impolita Danin & H. G. Baker, subsp. granulatostellulata Danin & H. G. Baker, subsp. nicaraguensis Danin & H. G. Baker, subsp. nitida Danin & H. G. Baker, subsp. papillatostellulata Danin & H. G. Baker, and subsp. stellata Danin & H. G. Baker.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Portulaca grandiflora is naturalized in gardens and has escaped to roadsides and waste places. Studies of seed surfaces from specimens representing 100 years of collections with distribution over the United States show remarkable consistency in seed morphology. Tubercles may extend onto the lateral surface, where they are widely scattered. Only one specimen was found with no tubercles at all.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, MO Plants
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
