POETULACA 



PUBSLANE ORDER 



CALANDEINIA 261 



XX. PORTULACEiE— Purslane Order 



An order containing about 15 genera and 125 species of succulent herbs or 

 undershrubs, often smooth, but sometimes hairy. Leaves alternate, seldom 

 opposite, entire, often fleshy. Stipules scarious, sometimes lacerated, or 

 changed into hairs, or absent. Flowers solitary, at the ends of the branches, 

 racemose, cymose, or paniculate, the lower ones axillary or lateral. Sepals 

 usually 2, rarely 5, free, or adnate to the base of the ovary, much imbricated, 

 persistent or deciduous. Petals 4-5, rarely numerous, hypogynous or rarely 

 perigynous, free, or connate at the very base, imbricate, entire, often fleeting 

 or deliquescent. Stamens inserted with the petals, often adnate to them at 

 the base, sometimes equalling them in number, sometimes fewer and opposite, 

 sometimes numerous ; filaments thread-like, distinct. Carpels 3 or more ; 

 stigmas several, much divided. 



PORTULACA (Purslane).— A genus 

 containing about 16 species of spreading 

 or ascending fleshy herbs, with alternate 

 or nearly opposite flat or rounded leaves, 

 often with tufts of bristles in the axils, 

 the upper ones often forming an involucre 

 round the flowers. Sepals 2, cohering in 

 a tube and adnate to the base of the 

 ovary, free above, deciduous. Petals 4-6, 

 free, or slightly connate at the base. 

 Stamens 8 or more, at the base of the 

 petals, and with them perigynous. Style 

 deeply cut into 3-8 branches. 



Culture and Propagation. — Outdoor 

 Portulacas are best treated as annuals. 

 The seeds may be sown thinly in April 

 in pans in a cold frame. By June the 

 seedlings will be ready for planting out. 

 If pricked off into pots or pans previously 

 and kept in a well-aired frame the seed- 

 lings make much better plants. Seeds 

 may also be sown in the open border 

 about the end of May, to bloom later 

 than those raised under glass. 



The double-flowered varieties may be 

 increased by means of cuttings during the 

 summer and autumn months, but this 

 process necessitates keeping the plants 

 under glass during the winter period. 

 The cuttings should be inserted in light 

 sandy soil and may be rooted in a shaded 

 part of the garden, out of doors or under a 

 handlight ; or if the season is unfavourable 

 'On a gentle hotbed. 



Portulacas are not particular as to 

 soil, but rich loam and leaf mould suit 

 them best. They should be planted in 

 the simuiest and warmest parts, and in 

 bold masses to secure better effect when 

 in bloom. The best kind to grow is: 



P. grandiflora {Sun Plant). — A 

 beautiful Brazilian plant, about 6 in. high, 

 with cylindrical, acute leaves, having tufts 

 of hairs in the axUs. Flowers in summer, 

 crimson-purple, three or four together, 

 crowded, surrounded by whorls of leaves 

 and crowded hairs. The variety Thellu- 

 soni is a taller plant, with less cylindrical 

 and blunter leaves than the type, and 

 large scarlet flowers, with 2-lobed petals. 

 There are several forms such as aurea, 

 aureo-striata, alba, coccvnea, splendens, 

 ca/ryophylloides, Thornburni, aurantiaca, 

 Bedmanni &c., with single flowers of 

 various hues, and most of them are ob- 

 tainable from a packet of mixed seed. 

 The variety called plena has beautiful 

 double flowers of a brilliant crimson- 

 purple, and looks very handsome. 



The popular name of ' Sun Plant ' is 

 derived from the fact that the flowers open 

 as a rule only during bright sunshine ; 

 hence the necessity for planting in warm 

 sunny positions to obtain the best results. 



Portulaca oleracea, an Indian annual, 

 is sometimes grown as a salad, the leaves 

 being eaten fresh or in a cooked state. 



CALANDRINIA (Eock Purslane). 

 A genus containing aboiit 60 species of 

 smooth or hairy annual or perennial 

 herbs, sometimes shrubby at the base. 

 Leaves alternate or tufted, rather fleshy. 

 Flowers solitary, long-stalked, or axillary, 

 or in loose terminal racemes or con- 

 tracted heads. Sepals 2, herbaceous, 

 ovate, persistent, or rarely deciduous. 

 Petals 5, often ephemeral, rarely fewer or 

 numerous, hypogynous. Stamens 5 or 

 more, free, cohering into a ring at the 



