2766 



PORTULACA 



POSOQUERIA 



3149. Capsules of Portulaca 

 grandiflora. 



PORTULACA (Latin name, of uncertain history). 

 Portulacdcesz. PURSLANE. Low fleshy often trailing 

 annual or perennial herbs, one of which is a common 

 flower-garden plant, and one of which is sometimes 

 grown in its horticultural form as a pot-herb. 



Leaves mostly alter- 

 nate, 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 circum- 

 scissile caps. (Fig. 3149), 

 containing many small 

 seeds. About 40 species 

 in the tropical and tem- 

 perate regions, mostly 

 American. The fls. of 

 portulaca open in direct sunshine, but close in shadow. 

 Two annual species are in cult., both thriving in the 

 hottest exposures. 



grandiflora, Hook. ROSE Moss. Fig. 3150. St. 

 slender and terete, prostrate or ascending, not rising 

 over 6-12 in., hairy in tufts at the joints: Ivs. scattered 

 or somewhat clustered, short and terete: fls. large 

 (usually 1 in. or more across in the cult, forms), terminal 

 and subtended by clustered Ivs., in many bright colors, 

 soon withering: seeds small, metallic-gray or gray- 

 black. Brazil and S. B.M. 2885. R.H. 1877:90. Gn. 

 45, p. 436. G. 31:719. Said to be perennial under 

 glass. Runs into many garden forms, as: Var. Thel- 

 lusonii, Hort. (P. Thelliisonii, Lindl.), with handsome 

 orange-scarlet fls. B.R. 26:31. R.H. 1852:5. Var. 

 splendens, Hort. (P. Gilliesii, Hook.), light red-purple. 

 B.M. 3064. Var. albiflSra, Hort., clear white. Var. 

 sulphurea or Thfirburnii, Hort., dark yellow. Var. 

 caryopnylloides, Hort., red, striped white. Var. Bed- 

 mannii, Hort., clear white and purple-striped. Colors 



3150. Portulaca grandiflora. ( X Vi) 



of the cult, 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 easy of cult, if it is given a hot 

 and rather dry soil. It needs full sun. The seeds require 

 a rather high temperature for germination, and there- 

 fore they are sown rather late, -near corn-plant- 

 ing time. Sometimes they are started indoors, but 



usually they are sown directly where the plants are to 

 stand. The soil need not be rich. The plant makes 

 excellent edgings, and is good for growing in dry rock- 

 work. A large patch of it gives a brilliant display of 

 color in sunny weather, but the fls. do not open in dull 

 weather. Seed of the double varieties produces more or 

 less single-fld. plants, unless saved from cuttings of 

 double-fld. plants, but the singles usually bloom earlier 

 than the doubles. Let the plants stand 10-12 in. apart. 

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

 in some places it persists about old gardens. Portulaca 

 grandiflora was first described by Hooker in 1829 in 

 the "Botanical Magazine." The fls. 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 situa- 

 tions between 

 the Rio del Sala- 

 dillo, or western 

 boundary of the 

 Pampas, and the 

 foot of the 

 mountains near 

 M e n d o z a. On 

 the western side 

 of Rio Desaguar- 

 dero plants were 

 in great pro- 

 fusion, giving to 



the ground over 315L Pusley. Portulaca oleracea. 



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 intermixed with the others." 



oleracea, Linn. PURSLANE. PUSLEY. Fig. 3151. 

 A common trailing weed in sandy ground, but also 

 cult, in improved strains as a pot-herb: Ivs. 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- 

 tries; probably native to the southwestern parts of the 

 U. S., but it is considered that it is intro. into the E. and 

 N. In sandy and loamy soils it is one of the commonest 

 and most persistent of weeds, but it is little known on 

 heavy lands. The common wild plant is prized for 

 "greens" in some regions, but the French upright forms 

 are much better, as they are larger and more tender; 

 these improved varieties look very different from the 

 common "pusley;" they are easy of cult. For a discus- 

 sion of the nativity of purslane in N. Amer., see Gray 

 & Trumbull, Amer. Jour. Sci. 25, p. 253. L. jj. B. 



PORTULACARIA (similar to Portulaca). Portulaca- 

 cese. Glabrous shrubs or small trees: Ivs. opposite, 

 obpvate, fleshy: fls. small, rose, fascicled in the upper 

 axils, forming a leafy panicle; sepals 2, short; petals 

 4-5, longer; stamens 4-7, inserted at the base of the 

 petals; ovary free, 3-cornered, 1-ovuled: caps. 3-winged, 

 indehiscent. Two species, S. Afr. P. afra, Jacq. Small 

 tree, 10-12 ft. high: branches opposite: Ivs. obovate- 

 roundish, 4-6 lines long: peduncles compressed and 

 branched; pedicels ternate: fls. small, pink. S. Afr. 



POSOQUERIA (from a native name in Guiana). 

 Rubiacese. Glabrous shrubs or small trees with terete 

 branches, for the warmhouse, of which only one has 

 appeared in the American trade, although some other 

 species are rather commonly cultivated abroad. 



Leaves opposite, coriaceous, entire; stipules between 

 the petioles, rather large, deciduous: fls. in terminal 

 corymbs, fragrant, white, rose, or scarlet; calyx 5- 

 toothed; corolla long-tubed, limb 5-lobed; stamens 5; 



