Entry for Portulaca rubricaulis Kunth [family PORTULACACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 4,
Names
Portulaca rubricaulisKunth [family PORTULACACEAE], in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp., 6: 73. 1823
Portulaca phaeospermaUrban [family PORTULACACEAE]
Treatment Author(s)
James F. Matthews
Information
Plants annual; roots fleshy. Stems erect or suberect, fleshy, succulent; trichomes inconspicuous at nodes and in inflorescence; branches 5–35 cm. Leaf blades linear to lanceolate, terete to hemispheric, 5–15 × 1–3(–5) mm, apex acute; involucrelike leaves (3–)5–8. Flowers 9–15 mm diam.; petals yellow, obovate to oval-obovate, 5–8 × 2–5 mm, apex rounded; stamens 12–30; stigmas 5–7. Capsules subglobose, 3.3–5.5 mm diam. Seeds brownish red, dark brown, or rarely black, orbiculate or elongate, flattened, 0.6–0.65 mm; surface cells slightly raised, obscurely stellate, sometimes granular, tubercles absent. 2n = 16.
Altitude range
0 m;
Distribution
West IndiesSouth America.USA Fla.
Discussion
Portulaca rubricaulis traditionally has been treated as P. phaeosperma (J. K. Small 1933). C. D. Legrand (1962) and R. P. Wunderlin (1982) consider the types of P. phaeosperma and P. rubricaulis to be conspecific. Only the yellow-flowered form has been seen in the United States; Legrand reported a salmon or orange-red to red form from the Caribbean.
