Molly-go AIZOACEAE-BASELLACEAE Basella 



1. Molluffo pentaphylla Linn, 'fi^ V,V (Su Mi Ts'ao; Millet Herb) (Mak.F.604). Low 

 spreading herb; fls. white, VII-VIII. Eastern and southeastern Asia; locally in 

 An., Che., Ku. Field weed. Fig. 89. 



55. PORTULACACEAE Purslane Family MUfWft (Ma Ch'ih Hsien K'o) 

 Succulent herbs (ours) or shrubs with watery sap: lvs. entire: fls. terminal, often 

 surrounded by a whorl of lvs.; sepals 2: petals 5; ovary 1-celled: fr. a circumscissile 

 capsule with numerous seeds. 18 genera with 200 species, widely distributed; 2 genera 

 and 4 species in China. 



Key to the Genera 



Calyx 2-cleft; stamens inserted on the calyx: fleshy annuals 1. Portulaca 



Calyx of 2 distinct sepals; stamens inserted on the receptacle; plants peren- 

 nial 2. Talinum 



1. Portulaca Linn. Purslane %WMM (Ma Ch'ih Hsien Shu) 

 Fleshy annual herbs: lvs. with scaly or hairy appendages at the nodes: calyx 

 2-cleft; stamens inserted on the calyx. About 20 species, mostly American; 2 in 

 China, one grown as an ornamental, the other a field and garden weed. (An old 

 Latin name.) 



Key to the Species 



Lvs. terete: plant hairy: fls. of various bright colors, over 2cm. across 1. P. grandiflora 

 Lvs. flat : plant glabrous : fls. yellow, about 1 cm. across 2. P. oleracea 



1. Portulaca grandiflora Hook. Rose-Moss ¥-3tM (Pan Chih Lien; Half-branch 

 Lotus) (B.M.365). Fleshy annual; fls. of bright colors, VII-VIII. Brazil and 

 southward; locally in Ku. Grown for ornament. 



2. Portulaca oleracea Linn. Common Purslane MS^ (Ma Ch'ih Hsien; Horse- 

 tooth Amaranth) (G.M.608). Fleshy annual; fls. yellow, VII-VIII. All warm 

 countries; locally in An., Ki., Ku. Field weed; widely used as a pot-herb and 

 also eaten raw. Fig. 90. 



2. Talinum Adans. ttMflf (Lu Lan Shu) 

 Succulent herbs or shrubs with alternate estipulate lvs.: calyx of 2 distinct 

 sepals; stamens inserted on the receptacle. About 15 species, mostly tropical; one 

 cultivated in China. (Greek: thalia, a green branch.) 



1. Talinum triangulare (Jacq.) Willd. (T. crassifolium (Jacq.) Willd.) I?f1fl (Lu Lan; 

 Sumach Orchid) (Mak.F.602; I.K.2:1032). Erect perennial, to lm.; fls. pink, 

 IX-X. Introduced from West Indies; locally in An., Che., Ku. Cultivated as a 

 pot-herb and salad vegetable, also medicinal and ornamental. Fig. 91. 



56. BASELLACEAE Basella Family %Wh (Lo K'uei K'o) 



Tivining fleshy herbaceous vines with alternate entire lvs.: fls. bisexual, small, 

 with 2 bracts and 2 sepals; petals and stamens 5: fr. indehiscent, 1-seeded. 5 genera 

 with 15 species, in tropical America and Asia; one species often cultivated in China. 



1. Basella Linn. Malabar Nightshade ^HH (Lo K'uei Shu) 

 Fls. in axillary spikes, white or red; sepals not ivinged; filaments erect in the bud, 



107 



