1416 



POKTO RICO 



PORTULACA 



pressed in percentages of the total area of cultivated 



land: 



Per cent. 



CoflPee 41 



Sugar cane 15 



Bananas 14 



Sweet potatoes 8 



Indian corn 4 



Malangas [Colocasia, Xanthosonia ?J 2 



Rice 2 



Cocoanuts 1 



Tobacco 1 



From the above it is seen that coffee is much the most 

 important crop of the island ; that sugar cane is of much 

 less relative importance than in Cuba, and that tobacco, 

 which is one of the leading crops of Cuba, is here of 

 trifling importance. 



To illustrate the tenure of land under different crops 

 and the race of the occupant, the following table is pre- 

 sented, showing, for different tenures and races in per- 

 centages, the proportion which was planted in each of 

 the different crops above enumerated: 



White 

 Crop. owners. 



Tobacco 1 



Sugar cane 14 



Rice 2 



Sweet potatoes. 7 



Malangas 2 



Yams 



Bananas 15 



Cocoanuts 1 



Coffee 47 



Indian corn 4 



It is seen from the above table that of the cultivated 

 area owned by whites 47 per cent, or nearly half, was 

 planted in coffee. Bananas occupied 15 per cent, and 

 sugar cane 14 per cent. Of the area rented by whites, 

 on the contrary, 47 per cent was planted in sugar cane 

 and but 18 per cent in coffee. This distribution of crops 

 among the areas owned by negroes was wider, coffee 

 occupying nearly one-third of the area, while sugar 

 cane, the second most important crop in the island, 

 occupied only 2 per cent. Among colored renters the 

 areas were also widely scattered. 



PORTULACA (Latin name, of uncertain history). 

 Portulacdcece. Purslane. Low, fleshy, often trailing, 

 annual or perennial herbs, of perhaps 20 species, in 

 tropical and temperate regions, mostly American. Lvs. 

 mostly alternate, thick, sometimes terete, entire : fls. 

 mostly terminal, usually with 5 distinct petals and with 

 several to many stamens, both borne on the calyx or 

 receptacle-rim: fr. a small, conical, circumscissile cap- 

 sule (Fig. 1917), containing many small seeds. The 

 flowers of Portulaca open in direct sunshine, but close 

 in shadow. Two annual species are in cultivation, both 

 thriving in the hottest exposures. 



grandifldra, Hook. Rose Moss. Figs. 1925-6. Stem 

 slender and terete, prostrate or ascending, not rising 

 over 6-10 in., hairy in tufts at the joints: lvs. scattered 



or somewhat clustered, 

 short and terete : fls. 

 large (usually 1 in. or 

 more across in the cult, 

 forms), terminal and 

 subtended by clustered 

 lvs., in many bright col- 

 ors, soon withering : 

 seeds small, metallic- 

 gray or gray-black. Bra- 

 zil and S. B.M. 2885. 

 R.H. 1877:90. Gn. 45, p. 

 4.'{6. — Said to be peren- 

 nial under glass. Runs 

 into many garden 

 forms, as: Var. Th61- 

 lusonii, Hort. (P. Thel- 

 liiaoni, Lindley), with handsome orange-scarlet fls. 

 B. R. 26:.3I. R.H. 1852:5. Var. splendens, Hort. (P. 

 OillieHii, Hook.), light red-purple. B.M. 3004. Var. 

 albifldra, Hort., clear white. Var. sulphilrea or Th6r- 

 burni, Hort., dark yellow. Var. caryophylloides, Hort., 



red, striped white. Var. Bedmanni, Hort., clear white 

 and purple striped. Colors of the cultivated Portulacas 

 range from pure white to yellow, rose, scarlet, deep red, 

 and almost purple, with many striped forms. There are 

 also many full double strains. The Rose Moss is most 



1925. Capsule of Portulacea 

 grandiflora (X%). 



1926. Portulaca erandiflora (X >2). 



easy of culture if it is given a hot and rather dry soil. 

 It needs full sun. The seeds require a rather high tem- 

 perature for germination, and therefore they are sown 

 rather late, — not until corn-planting time. Sometimes 

 they are started indoors, but usually they are sown di- 

 rectly where the plants are to stand. The soil need not 

 be rich. The plant makes excellent edgings, and is good 

 for growing in dry rockwork. A large patch of it gives 

 a brilliant display of color in sunny weather, but the 

 flowers do not open in dull weather. Seed of the dou- 

 ble varieties produces more or less single- flowered 

 plants, unless saved from cuttings of double-flowered 

 plants, but the singles usually bloom earlier than the 

 doubles. Let the plants stand 10-12 inches apart. They 

 are tender to frost. The plant often self -sows, and in some 

 places it persists about old gardens. Portulaca grandi- 

 flora was first described by Hooker in 1829 in the Botani- 

 cal Magazine. The flowers were described as "orange- 

 colored, or of a very bright reddish purple." The plant 

 was "discovered by Dr. Gillies, growing in light sandy 

 soil, in various situations between the Rio del Saladillo, 

 or western boundary of the Pampas, and the foot of the 

 mountains near Mendoza. On the western side of Rio 

 Desaguardero plants were in great profusion, giving to 

 the ground over which they were spread a rich purple 

 hue, here and there marked with spots of an orange 

 color, from the orange-colored variety which grew in- 

 termixed with the others." 



1927. Portulaca oleracea, the common Purslane (.X 3^). 



oler^cea, Linn. Purslane. Puslev Figs. 1927, 1928. 

 A common trailing weed in sandy ground, ;mt also cul- 

 tivated in improved strains as a pot-herb. lvs. small, 

 spatulate or narrow-obovate, very obtuse, thick, dull 

 green or reddish: fls. small, yellow, the 7-12 stamens 

 sensitive to a touch. Widely distributed in many coun- 



