Talinum paniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Talinaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Talinum paniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn.

  • Description

    Species Description - Erect shrub to 35(-100) cm tall, sparsely branched; stems woody at base, succulent above, glabrous. Leaf blades 2-7.5 x 1-4.5 cm, obovate to elliptic, slightly fleshy, glabrous, the apex obtuse, usually retuse and mucronulate, the base narrowed to a slender petiole 3-5 mm long, the margins entire. Flowers in temiinal panicles, 20-40 cm long. Sepals orbicular, 3-4 mm long, early deciduous; petals 5, 3.5-5 mm long, light yellow or reddish, widely elliptic to rounded. Capsule 3.5-5 mm wide, nearly globose, irregularly opening. Seeds ca. 0.6 mm long, reddish brown, tuberculate, shiny.

    Distribution and Ecology - An occasional shrub of rocky, open areas. East End (B1204), Lameshur (W851). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the United States, Mexico, Central and South America.

  • Discussion

    Portulaca patens L., Mant. PL 2: 242. 1771, nom. illegit. Talinum patens (L.) Willd., Sp. PL 2: 863. 1799.