Portulaca pilosa
Portulaca umbraticola
chisme, kiss-me-quick
wing-pod purslane
prostrate, suberect to erect, succulent;
trichomes conspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence;
branches 3–25 cm.
prostrate to suberect;
trichomes sparse at nodes and in inflorescence, stems otherwise glabrous;
branches 5–20 cm.
blades linear to oblong-lanceolate, terete to hemispheric, 5–20 × 1–3 mm, apex acute; involucrelike leaves 6–9.
blades obovate, spatulate, or sometimes lanceolata, flattened, 10–35 × 2–15 mm, apex rounded to truncate; involucrelike leaves 4–5.
5–12 mm diam.;
petals dark pink to purple, obovate, 3–5(–7) × 1.5–3 mm;
stamens 5–12(–37);
stigmas 3–5(–6).
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, 1.5–4.3 mm diam.
obovoid or turbinate, 3–5 mm diam., with encircling, expanded, membranaceous wing 0.5–1.5 mm wide proximal to suture.
black or leaden, orbiculate (0.4–)0.5–0.6 mm diam.;
surface cells loosely arranged, short-tuberculate and stellate to rounded-stellate;
tubercles long or absent.
gray, round or elongate, flattened, 0.5–1 mm;
surface cells stellate with long tubercles.
= 8, 16.
Portulaca pilosa
Portulaca umbraticola
Portulaca pilosa is a highly variable species. It exhibits morphologic variability during development, with immature plants having wider (to 4 mm), longer, and flatter leaves than mature specimens. Mature leaves are narrower, shorter, and hemispheric or terete in cross section. The Linnaean drawing of the type specimen may be an immature plant. Morphologic variability also occurs in relation to habitat differences over the large geographic range of this species. Plants growing in dry habitats have the greatest density of hairs; plants growing in moist habitats are less pilose. Plants with very dense hairs on old growth will, under more moist conditions, produce new growth with fewer hairs. Growth habit is also affected by habitat. Plants growing in warm, moist environments tend to branch quickly into a spreading habit, with erect growth following secondarily. Plants in cool, dry habitats grow erect first, then branch more slowly; the plant then has a compact habit. Specimens from Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas exhibit all morphologic conditions. Those from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma usually occur in shallow, sandy soils, often on rocky outcrops, and are often highly branched, compact, short, and not very pilose.
(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 |
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
