Family:
Portulacaceae Juss.

Portulaca L.

This genus is accepted, and its native range is Cosmopolitan.

[FZ]

Portulacaceae, H. Wild. Flora Zambesiaca 1:2. 1961

Morphology General Habit
Annual, biennial or perennial herbs; branches erect or often prostrate.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves shortly petiolate or sessile, opposite or alternate, fleshy, cylindric or plane, glabrous (at least in our species); stipules divided into numerous hairs or more rarely membranous or absent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers sessile, solitary or a few together at the ends of the branches and surrounded by a group of 2-several apical leaves.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 2, unequal, the larger slightly enfolding the margins of the smaller, connate into a tube below, which is adnate to the base of the capsule.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 4–5 (6), fugacious, free or ± united, marcescent and enfolding the ripe capsule.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 4 — c. 100, inserted on the corolla or at its base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary semi-inferior, 1-locular, at least in the upper part; placentation free central; ovules many or very rarely 1 or several; style simple with 2-several stigmas.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule dehiscing transversely.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1-?, usually reniform, smooth or variously tuberculate or granulate.

[FSOM]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Annual or perennial succulent herbs, sometimes woody at base or with tuberous roots
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate or opposite, nodes with scales and/or hairs, restricted to axils in alternate-leaved species (sect. Portulaca) or in complete whorls around nodes of opposite-leaved species (sect. Neossia)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers in terminal sessile heads surrounded by an involucre of usually leaf-like bracts and often many hairs
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals joined at base, adnate to base of ovary
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 4–5(–6) (or more in cultivated plants), fused at the base to the sepals and ovary, usually conspicuous but open only for a short time in sunny weather
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 4–c. 100, inserted in a ring at base of petals
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary semi-inferior, the basal part fused to the perianth; ovules many; stigmas 2–6
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule with circumscissile dehiscence, the top forming a cap (“operculum”) often enclosed in the dried perianth
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds usually numerous, sometimes with metallic lustre.
Note
Many accounts refer to the hairs and scales associated with the leaves as modified stipules, but this is probably wrong as they are clearly axillary structures. The hairs are sometimes obviously, probably always, derived from scales, which have split longitudinally into many very narrow segments. The species with opposite leaves (sect. Neossia) are relatively well-defined but those with alternate leaves (sect. Portulaca) belong to poorly known groups best developed elsewhere.
Distribution
The complex is particularly well represented in the New World and without extensive revision of the whole complex it is difficult to be sure of the delimitation of species world-wide.

[FTEA]

Portulacaceae, Sylvia M. Phillips. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2002

Morphology General Habit
Succulent annual or perennial herbs or infrequently shrublets; stems articulated or not; roots sometimes tuberous
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate or opposite, fleshy, linear to obovate, shortly petiolate, caducous, often absent at flowering time; axillary hairs and scales present, these sometimes conspicuously encircling the nodes and overlapping the leaves
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence terminal though sometimes overtopped by subsequent growth; peduncle expanded into a flat platform bearing one or more sessile flowers and bordered by a circlet of involucral leaves, or inflorescence rarely an open cyme (1 species in East Africa); involucral bracts enclosing woolly hairs and sometimes triangular scales; flowers fugacious, developing in succession
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals ovate-triangular, basally connate, hooded
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 4–5(–6), adnate basally to the sepals, varying slightly in width
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens several to numerous, adherent to the petals in a single whorl, filaments connate basally
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary semi-inferior, multi-ovulate; style usually elongate and disarticulating at maturity; stigma branched, the branches recurving
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule circumscissile, basal portion rim-like to infundibuliform, membranous to coriaceous, persistent, the dome-shaped top usually cartilaginous, brittle, forming a lid carrying the persistent collapsed perianth
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds many, grey, brown or black (immature seeds brown), sometimes iridescent with a metallic sheen, reniform to rounded, smooth or often ornamented with tubercles or pegs.

Native to:

Afghanistan, Alabama, Albania, Aldabra, Algeria, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Arkansas, Aruba, Ascension, Assam, Austria, Azores, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Bulgaria, Burkina, Burundi, California, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Central European Rus, Chad, Chagos Archipelago, Chile North, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Colombia, Colorado, Comoros, Congo, Cook Is., Corse, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Aegean Is., Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Florida, France, Free State, French Guiana, Gabon, Galápagos, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gilbert Is., Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Gulf States, Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Howland-Baker Is., Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jawa, Kansas, Kazan-retto, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Kriti, Kuwait, KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Lebanon-Syria, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Libya, Line Is., Louisiana, Madeira, Malawi, Malaya, Maldives, Mali, Maluku, Marcus I., Marianas, Marquesas, Marshall Is., Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Morocco, Mozambique, Mozambique Channel I, Myanmar, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Nevada, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Mexico, New South Wales, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, North Carolina, North Caucasus, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Ogasawara-shoto, Oklahoma, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Phoenix Is., Pitcairn Is., Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rodrigues, Romania, Rwanda, Réunion, Samoa, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sicilia, Sierra Leone, Sinai, Society Is., Socotra, Somalia, South Australia, South Carolina, South China Sea, South European Russi, Southwest Caribbean, Spain, Sri Lanka, St.Helena, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Togo, Tokelau-Manihiki, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Turks-Caicos Is., Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, Utah, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vietnam, Virginia, Wake I., Wallis-Futuna Is., Western Australia, Windward Is., Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Alberta, Altay, Amur, Andaman Is., Baleares, Bermuda, British Columbia, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central American Pac, Chile Central, Chile South, China North-Central, Cocos (Keeling) Is., Connecticut, Delaware, Denmark, Desventurados Is., District of Columbia, East European Russia, East Himalaya, Easter Is., Finland, Great Britain, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Inner Mongolia, Iowa, Juan Fernández Is., Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Kentucky, Korea, Krym, Laos, Lesotho, Maine, Manchuria, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nauru, Nebraska, Nepal, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Zealand North, Nicobar Is., Norfolk Is., North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Primorye, Prince Edward I., Qinghai, Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, Solomon Is., South Dakota, Sweden, Tadzhikistan, Thailand, Tibet, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vermont, Washington, West Himalaya, West Siberia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Xinjiang

Portulaca L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Rico, L. [1563], Bolivia K000295303 No
Rico, L. [1459], Bolivia K000295376 No
Rico, L. [1606], Bolivia K000295226 No
Rico, L. [1604], Bolivia K000295224 No

First published in Sp. Pl.: 445 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • von Poellnitz in Fedde Rep. 37: 240–320 (1934).
  • —F.T.A. 1: 148

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 204 (1754).
  • Sp. Pl. 1: 445 (1753)

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by M. G. Gilbert [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
  • Geesink in Blumea 17: 275–301 (1969).
  • von Poellnitz in Feddes Rep. 37: 240–320 (1934)
  • von Poellnitz in Feddes Rep. 48: 174–195 (1940)

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Poelln. in F.R. 37: 240–320 (1934)
  • Poelln. in F.R. 48: 174–195 (1940)
  • R. Geesink in Blumea 17: 275–301 (1969)
  • S.M. Phillips in K.B. 55: 687–689 (2000)
  • Sp. Pl.: 445 (1753)
  • in Biol. Skr. 54: 31–48 (2001)

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    Flora of Somalia
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Copyright applied to individual images

  • Plants and People Africa

    Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/