Vor. II.] PURSLANE FAMILY. 5 
1. Portulaca oleracea I,, Purslane. Pussley. (Fig. 1434.) 
i 
Portulaca oleracea I. Sp. Pl. 445. 1753. a 
Annual, prostrate, freely branching from a 
deep central root, branches 4/’-10’ long. 
Leaves alternate and clustered at the ends of 
the branches, obovate or cuneate, 3//—10// 
long, rounded at the apex,very fleshy; flower- 
buds flat; flowers solitary and sessile, 2’/-3// 
broad, yellow, opening in bright sunshine for 
a few hours in the morning; sepals broad, 
keeled, acutish; style 4-6-parted; capsule 3//— 
5’’ long; seeds finely rugose, about 4’ long. 
In fields and waste places, common through- 
out our area, and in warm and tropical America. 
Native in the southwest, but naturalized north- 
ward. Widely naturalized as a weed in the 
warmer parts of the Old World. Summier. 
2. Portulaca retusa Engelm. Notched 
Purslane. (Fig. 1435.) 
Portulaca relusa Eugelm. Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 6: 
154. 1850. 
Closely resembles the preceding species. Leaves 
cuneate, generally broader, mostly retuse or emar- 
ginate, but some of them rounded; sepals broad, ob- 
tusish, carinate-winged; style larger, 3-4-cleft; cap- 
sule 2’’-3’’ long; seeds distinctly tuberculate, nearly 
44” long; petals smaller than those of P. oleracea 
and the flowers opening earlicr in the morning than 
those of that species, where the two grow together. 
Minnesota (?), Missouri and Arkansas, to Texas, 
west to Nevada. Growing in large patches, sometimes 
several feet in diameter. Summer. 
3. Portulaca pilosa I. Hairy Portulaca. 
(Fig. 1436.) 
Portulaca pilosa I. Sp. Pl. 445. 1753- 
Annual, spreading or ascending from a deep root, 
more or less densely pilose-pubescent, with small 
tufts of light-colored hairs in the axils of the leaves. 
Branches 2/—6’ long; leaves linear, terete, obtuse, 4’”— 
8’ long, about 1’’ wide, alternate, and clustered at the 
ends of the branches; sepals oblong. acute, membran- 
ous, not carinate, deciduous with the operculum of the 
capsule; flowers red, 4/’-6’ broad; stamens numerous; 
style 5-6-parted; sceds minutely tuberculate. 
In dry soil, North Carolina to Florida, Kansas, Texas 
and Mexico, west to California. Also throughout tropical 
America. Summer. 
