Common Name: PURSLANE FAMILY Habit: Annual to perennial herb, generally fleshy. Stem: [1]several to many, spreading [to erect], generally glabrous. Leaf: simple, alternate or opposite, linear, obovate, spoon-shaped, [elliptic, +- round], flat or cylindric, hairs in axils, inconspicuous or not [0], upper 2--5 forming involucre. Inflorescence: flowers 1 or clustered at stem tips. Flower: bisexual, radial; sepals 2, fused at base, lower part fused to ovary and generally persistent in fruit; petals [4]5[7], fused at base, forming ring, yellow [magenta, rose, orange, white]; stamens 4--20[> 20], epipetalous or not, anthers yellow; ovary 1/2-inferior, chamber 1, ovules several to many, placenta free-central; style branches [2]3--6[12]. Fruit: capsule, circumscissile. Seed: many, reniform, +- tubercled, black, gray, [brown, +- blue]. Genera In Family: 1 genus, +- 100 species: +- worldwide, especially tropics, subtropics some cultivated (Portulaca grandiflora Hook.; Portulaca umbraticola Kunth). Note: All other California genera previously in this family now in Montiaceae. eFlora Treatment Author: Gilberto Ocampo Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Etymology: (Probably Latin: small gate or door, from capsule lid) Reference: Matthews 2004 FNANM 4:496--501 Unabridged Reference: Danin et al. 1978 Israel J Bot 27:177--211; Legrand 1962 Anales Mus Hist Nat (Montevideo) 2a ser 7(3):1--147
Portulaca halimoides L.
NATIVE Habit: Annual. Stem: spreading to ascending, 2--15 cm. Leaf: 3--15 mm. Inflorescence: flowers 2--8. Flower: sepals 1--2.5 mm, generally +- red; petals 1.5--3.5 mm, yellow; stamens 4--18; style branches 3--4. Fruit: 1.5--2 mm wide. Seed: 0.3--0.5 mm wide, black or metallic silver. Chromosomes: 2n=18. Ecology: Sandy washes, flats; Elevation: 1000--1200 m. Bioregional Distribution: PR, DSon, DMoj; Distribution Outside California: to Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, Central America, South America. Flowering Time: Sep Synonyms: Portulaca parvula A. Gray Jepson eFlora Author: Gilberto Ocampo Reference: Matthews 2004 FNANM 4:496--501 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Portulaca Next taxon: Portulaca oleracea
Botanical illustration including Portulaca halimoides
Citation for this treatment: Gilberto Ocampo 2012, Portulaca halimoides, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=39526, accessed on May 13, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on May 13, 2024.
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