Status: Native
Synonyms:
None
Portulaca grandiflora is an annual, introduced species from South America. Naturalized in the U.S., it is found in nearly every state. It has prostrate stems with characteristic trichomes (hairs) at the nodes and succulent, terete leaves. The flowers, subtended by two translucent sepals, have 40 or more stamens with unequal filaments. The fruit is a circumscissile capsule (opens longitudinally) with numerous gray to black seeds less than a millimeter in diameter. Unlike other portulacas, P. grandiflora is poisonous.
--Description and photos by Kevin Keith
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Portulaca grandiflora, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
Portulaca grandiflora, succulent leaves, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
Portulaca grandiflora, flower, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
Portulaca grandiflora, detail of flower, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
Portulaca grandiflora, sepals, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
Portulaca grandiflora, flower buds and sepal, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
Portulaca grandiflora, pubescent nodes, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
Portulaca grandiflora, circumscissile capsule, photo Kevin Keith, Grant Cty., Cliff, summer 2021
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