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cencilla, shoreline sea-purslane

sea-purslane

Habit Plants perennial, glabrous. Herbs [shrubs], annual or perennial, succulent, usually papillate.
Roots

fibrous.

Stems

prostrate, forming mats to 2 m diam., branched; rooting at nodes.

prostrate to erect, forming mats; rooting at nodes in some species.

Leaves

petiole ± absent;

blade oblanceolate to elliptic-ovate, to 6 × 2.5 cm, tapered to clasping base.

cauline, opposite, those of each pair equal;

stipules absent;

petiole bases clasping to ± connate, ± widened, margins usually scarious;

blade usually flat, linear to spatulate or ovate, tapered, margins entire.

Inflorescences

flowers solitary;

pedicel to 20 mm.

axillary, flowers solitary or in cymes, sessile or pedicellate;

bracts absent or 2.

Flowers

calyx lobes pink-purple adaxially, with subapical abaxial appendages, ovate to lanceolate, 3–10 mm;

stamens 30;

pistil 5-carpellate;

ovary 5-loculed;

styles 5.

hypanthium obconic;

calyx lobes 5, reddish adaxially, usually hooded near tip;

petals and petaloid staminodia absent;

stamens [1–]5–30, often connate proximally;

pistil 2–5-carpellate;

ovary half inferior, 2–5-loculed;

placentation axile;

ovules to 60;

styles 2–5, papillate;

stigmas 2–5.

Fruits

capsules, ovoid to obconic, dehiscence circumscissile.

Capsules

conic, 10 mm.

Seeds

30–60, black, 1.2–1.5 mm, shiny, smooth.

to 60, black to brown, arillate, usually reniform, shiny or dull, smooth or rugose.

Sesuvium portulacastrum

Sesuvium

Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Wet or desiccated soils, beaches, dunes, margins of coastal wetlands, waste grounds, ballast
Elevation 0-5 m (0-0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; PA; SC; TX; Mexico; South America; Europe; Africa
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
Mexico; Central America; South America; Tropical; subtropical; and temperate North America; West Indies; Eurasia; Africa; Pacific Islands; Australia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sesuvium portulacastrum is a widespread and variable subtropical and tropical species to which many names have been applied, particularly to material collected beyond North America (e.g., Argentina and Brazil). Although S. portulacastrum occurs or has been reported in natural habitats on the east coast of North America north to North Carolina, and from ballast north to the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, there are no verified records for this species occurring in western North America north of Mexico, where it occurs northward along the coasts of Sonora and Baja California. All records or collections of S. portulacastrum from desert wetlands of the United States are included in S. verrucosum.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species ca. 8 (4 in the flora).

Sesuvium crithmoides Welwitsch, a west African perennial with linear leaves and sessile flowers, has been reported from waste places along wharves in Georgia (J. K. Small 1933); it apparently is not naturalized in the flora.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Stamens 5; styles and locules 2-3; plants annual
→ 2
1. Stamens 30; styles and locules 5; plants perennial
→ 3
2. Seeds smooth, 1 mm
S. maritimum
2. Seeds rugose, 1.5 mm
S. trianthemoides
3. Pedicels 1-20 mm; stems rooting at nodes; seeds 1.2-1.5 mm
S. portulacastrum
3. Pedicels absent or to 2 mm; stems not rooting at nodes; seeds 0.8-1 mm
S. verrucosum
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 81. FNA vol. 4, p. 80. Author: Wayne R. Ferren Jr..
Parent taxa Aizoaceae > Sesuvium Aizoaceae
Sibling taxa
S. maritimum, S. trianthemoides, S. verrucosum
Subordinate taxa
S. maritimum, S. portulacastrum, S. trianthemoides, S. verrucosum
Synonyms Portulaca portulacastrum, Halimus portulacastrum
Name authority (Linnaeus) Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1058. (1759) Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1052, 1058, 1371. (1759)
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