Common purslane (Marshes, swamp and Riverside vegetation of Khandwa district)

Common purslane

Portulaca oleracea

Summary ⁴

Portulaca oleracea (common purslane, also known as verdolaga, pigweed, little hogweed, or pursley, and moss rose) is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which may reach 40 cm in height.

Description ⁵

This introduced annual plant forms a spreading mat up to 6" tall and 2' across, branching frequently at the base. The stems are round, thick, and succulent. They range in color from light green to reddish brown. The leaves are alternate or nearly opposite and sessile along the stems. They are up to 1" long and ½" across, obovate or oblong, glabrous, and smooth along the margins. Like the stems, the leaves are rather thick and succulent. They are usually shiny green, sometimes becoming reddish purple in bright sunlight. There is a tendency for the leaves to cluster toward the apex of the stems. The yellow flowers occur singly or in small terminal clusters. When fully open, each flower is about ¼" across, consisting of 5 yellow petals, 2 green sepals, numerous yellow stamens, and several pistils that are bunched together in the center of the flower. These flowers have floppy petals that open up for a few hours during bright sunny mornings. The blooming period occurs from mid-summer through the early fall and lasts about 1-2 months. Each flower is replaced by a seed capsule that splits open around the middle to release the numerous small seeds. Each seed is dark brown or black, somewhat flattened, and nearly round or kidney-shaped. The surface is granular, appearing somewhat coiled. The root system consists of a taproot. This plant can spread by reseeding itself, or vegetatively, as the broken-off stems can form rootlets to establish new plantlets.

Distribution ⁶

Distribution: A cosmopolitan weed in cultivated fields and waste moist places. Probably native of South-West parts of United States and now widely distributed in warm temperate, tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world.

Faunal associations ⁷

The flowers attract flower flies, small bees, and beetles. The seeds are a minor source of food to sparrows and closely related songbirds at various times of the year, including Spizella passerina (Chipping Sparrow), Pooecetes gramineus (Vesper Sparrow), and Calcarius lapponicus (Lapland Longspur). Purslane species are an important food source for wildlife in the Western states, but less important in the Eastern states because of the greater availability of other kinds of plants.

Sources and Credits

(c) James Bailey, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by James Bailey
(c) Mauricio Mercadante, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mercadanteweb/9233814777/
(c) Mauricio Mercadante, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mercadanteweb/9233809959/
Adapted by Chandan Pandey from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29447376
(c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/4933022
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29447380

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Common purslane

Summary 4

Description 5

Distribution 6

Faunal associations 7