portulaca

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Por-tew-lak'a. Purslane . Low-growing, mostly trailing herbs, comprising about 100 species from tropical and temperate regions.

Description
Stems soft and fleshy, often reddish. Leaves alternate, small, thick, entire, often spoonshaped, 1-2 in. (2.5-5.0 cm) long. Flowers usually terminal, usually opening only in full sunlight, sometimes inconspicuous, sometimes showy. Calyx of 5 sepals. Corolla of 5 petals, in varying colors. Stamens numerous.

How to Grow
Seeds are very fine and tend to wash away or be buried if sown directly in the garden. Start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost and set out when soil is warm. Plants need full sun and sandy, well-drained soil. They prefer warm weather.

Portulaca grandiflora
Rose Moss ; Garden Portulaca ; Sun Moss ; Wax Pink . Trailing to 10 in. (25 cm) long, much branched. Flowers terminal, showy, 1 in. (2.5 cm) wide, ranging from white, pink, and yellow to red and purple. Suitable for dry banks or rock gardens. Brazil. Tender annual.

Portulaca oleracea
Purslane ; Pussley . Trailing to 18 in. (45 cm) long. Flowers small, ⅜ in. (9 mm) wide, yellow. India. The cultivar 'Giganthes' has 1-in. (2.5-cm) flowers; 'Wildfire Mixed' comes in several colors. Hardy annual.

Portulaca pilosa
Trailing to 12 in. (30 cm) long. Flowers rose-red, in. (13 mm) wide, with 5 petals and many stamens. N.C. to Fla. 'Hortualis' has reddish-purple flowers, ¾ in. (19 mm) wide. Tender annual.

Plant genus in the family Portulacaceae. Contains high concentrations of oxalic acid and sometimes nitrate, either of which can cause fatal poisoning in hungry stock. Manifested by recumbency and high mortality in sheep. Includes P. australis, P. filifolia, P. oleracea (pigweed, purslane), P. sp.aff. oleracea (munyeroo, inland pigweed).

• Flowering Plants

Portulaca
Portulaca amilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Portulacaceae
Genus:	Portulaca L.[1]
Species
about 40-100, see text
Synonyms
Sedopsis (Engl.) Exell & Mendonça[1]

Portulaca ( /ˌpɔrtjuːˈleɪkə/,^[2] purslane) is the type genus of the flowering plant family Portulacaceae, comprising about 40-100 species found in the tropics and warm temperate regions. They are also sometimes known as Rose Moss or more commonly Moss Roses.

Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is widely considered an edible plant, and in some areas an invasive type of weed. Some Portulaca species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Nutmeg (Hadula trifolii).

Purslane can be eaten raw or cooked, and lends itself to stir fry dishes. Some say it has a slight lemon-like taste and mushroom-like texture. It is relatively easy to grow in more northern climates, including the New England area in the United States.

Contents 1 Selected species 1.1 Formerly placed here 2 Gallery 3 References 4 External links

Selected species

Portulaca amilis Speg. – Paraguayan Purslane Portulaca andicola Portulaca bicolor – Pigweed Portulaca biloba Urb. – Cuban Purslane Portulaca boliviensis Portulaca caulerpoides Britt. & Wilson ex Britt. – Puerto Rican Purslane Portulaca cryptopetala Portulaca elatior Portulaca elongata Portulaca eruca Portulaca fluvialis Portulaca fragilis Portulaca gilliesii Portulaca gracilis Portulaca grandiflora Hook. – Moss-rose Purslane Portulaca halimoides L. – Silkcotton Purslane Portulaca insularis Portulaca intraterranea Portulaca kuriensis A.G.Mill. (Yemen) Portulaca lanuginosa Portulaca longiusculotuberculata

Portulaca lutea Soland. ex G.Forst. – Yellow Purslane Portulaca molokiniensis Hobdy – ʻIhi Portulaca mucronata Portulaca napiformis Portulaca oleracea L. – Common Purslane, Pigweed Portulaca papulosa Portulaca pedicellata Portulaca perennis Portulaca pilosa L. – Shaggy Purslane Portulaca psammotropha Portulaca quadrifida L. – Chickenweed Purslane Portulaca rotundifolia Portulaca rubricaulis – Redstem Purslane Portulaca samhaensis A.G.Mill. (Yemen) Portulaca sclerocarpa A.Gray – ʻIhi Makole Portulaca sedifolia A.G.Mill. (Yemen) Portulaca smallii P.Wilson – Small's Purslane Portulaca suffrutescens Engelm. – Shrubby Purslane Portulaca teretifolia – Roundleaf Purslane Portulaca umbraticola Kunth – Wingpod Purslane Portulaca villosa Cham. – Hairy Purslane, ʻIhi[3][4]

Formerly placed here

• Anacampseros arachnoides (Haw.) Sims (as P. arachnoides Haw.)
• Anacampseros filamentosa subsp. filamentosa (as P. filamentosa Haw.)
• Anacampseros lanceolata subsp. lanceolata (as P. lanceolata Haw.)
• Anacampseros rufescens (Haw.) Sweet (as P. rufescens Haw.)
• Anacampseros telephiastrum DC. (as P. anacampseros L.)
• Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L. (as P. portulacastrum L.)
• Talinum fruticosum (L.) Juss. (as P. fruticosa L. or P. triangularis Jacq.)
• Talinum paniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn. (as P. paniculata Jacq. or P. patens L.)^[4]

Gallery

• 

  Purslane cultivar

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Portulaca

Wikispecies has information related to: Portulaca

1. ^ ^{a b} "Genus: Portulaca L.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2011-03-04. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?9784. 
2. ^ "Portulaca". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 3rd ed. 2001.
3. ^ "Portulaca". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=20418. Retrieved 2011-03-04. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Species Records of Portulaca". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?9784. Retrieved 2011-03-04. 

External links

• USDA PLANTS Database

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