Common Purslane - Portulaca oleracea
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Species Description
A rare but increasing casual often as a birdseed alien; most concentrated in the south-east. Habitat includes: arable fields, spoil heaps, tips, allotments, wasteland, pavements etc.
Stace 4:
Portulaca oleracea L. - Common Purslane.
Procumbent to erect, more or less succulent annual to 50cm, with several pairs of opposite to subopposite (or some alternate) leaves with usually bristle-like stipules; flowers sessile, in groups of 1-3 with group of leaves just below; sepals and petals falling before fruiting; petals (4)5(-6), about 4-8mm, yellow, free or joined at extreme base; (2n=18, 54). Archaeophyte-cultivated; weed of arable ground in Channel Islands and Scilly, rare casual in Central & South Britain perhaps from birdseed, apparently now increasing; Mediterranean. The proportion of records that refer to the pot-herb (ssp. sativa (Haw.) Čelak.), which has seeds 1-1.5mm across (not <1mm across as in ssp. oleracea) is unknown. The small-seeded wild variants are sometimes treated as several separate spp.
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Subspecies
| name | latinname | species | sightings | media | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common Purslane | Portulaca oleracea subsp. oleracea | 1 | 1 | 5 |  |