Compilation
Portulaca collina

Succulent herb from a thick taproot; stems bushily branched, articulated, up to 7 cm high, the many short internodes 0.8–1.5 mm thick, often exceeded by the conspicuous, papery nodal scales. Leaves opposite, very fleshy, lanceolate-elliptic, 3–5.5 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, acute, soon caducous; nodal scales overlapping in dense circlets, 4–7 mm long, 1–2 mm wide at the base, tapering into acuminate or hair-like tips, often longer than the leaves and overlapping the scales of the node above, imparting a silvery-white appearance to the whole plant. Flowers inconspicuous, 1–3 at the branch tips, densely surrounded by hair-like scales within the 4 involucral leaves, these slightly longer and more ovate than the cauline leaves, up to 8 mm long. Sepals ovate, 2–3 mm long, connate in the lower third; petals 4, yellow, ± 1.5–4 mm long; stamens 4–8; stigma 4(–5)-branched. Capsule dehiscing 1/3 up from the base, lid a broadly rounded dome 1.4–2 mm high, pale, glossy; seeds plumply reniform, 0.4–0.6 mm long, light brown or with a greyish sheen, testa cells domed to tuberculate, the marginal cell-walls indiscernable.