Portulaca oleracea
Portulaca rubricaulis
common purslane, little hogweed, purslane
redstem purslane
prostrate, succulent;
trichomes at nodes and in inflorescence absent or inconspicuous;
branches to 56 cm.
erect or suberect, fleshy, succulent;
trichomes inconspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 5–35 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, 5–15 × 1–3(–5) mm, apex acute; involucrelike leaves (3–)5–8.
3–10 mm diam.;
petals yellow, oblong, 3–4.6 × 1.8–3 mm;
stamens 6–12(–20);
stigmas 3–6.
9–15 mm diam.;
petals yellow, obovate to oval-obovate, 5–8 × 2–5 mm, apex rounded;
stamens 12–30;
stigmas 5–7.
ovoid, 4–9 mm diam.
subglobose, 3.3–5.5 mm diam.
black or dark brown, orbiculate or elongate, flattened, 0.6–1.1 mm;
surface cells ± smooth, granular, or stellate, with rounded tubercles.
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, 36, 54.
= 16.
Portulaca oleracea
Portulaca rubricaulis
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 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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