Portulacaceae
Portulaca

Portulaca ramosa Peter

First published in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 40(2, Anh.): 34 (1938)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is E. Tanzania. It is a succulent annual or subshrub and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

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

Morphology General Habit
Herb to 25 cm high, probably annual, branching above the base, branches ascending, woody below, succulent above.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, flat, narrowly oblanceolate-oblong, 15–30 mm long, 3–5 mm wide, acute, cuneate to a petiole 1–2 mm long; axillary hairs mostly shorter than the internodes, with 2 longer hair-like scales, inconspicuous on the older branches.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Flowers solitary or less often paired, encircled by 6–8 involucral leaves enclosing fairly dense hairs, these shorter than the capsule.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Sepals ovate, 5–6 mm long, connate only at the extreme base, outer lightly keeled, inner rounded, both sharply acute to a small crest; petals 5–6, pinkish-mauve, 7–8 mm long, free, obovate with narrowed base and truncate-apiculate tip; stamens 40–50, filaments connate in the lower third to form a tube adherent to the petal-bases; stigma 5-branched.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 5–7 mm high, 5 mm wide, dehiscing above the middle, base deeply infundibuliform, lid a broad dome wider than long; seeds broadly reniform, 0.8 mm long, grey with a metallic sheen, smooth in outline, the testa cells jigsaw-shaped to stellate, almost flat.
Habitat
Rocky hilltops and Brachystegia thicket; 450–1000 m
Distribution
T3 T6 T8 not known elsewhere
[FTEA]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0