Trianthema portulacastrum L.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Aizoaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Prostrate, succulent, mat-forming perennial herb, manybranched from a swollen taprooted base; stems cylindrical, glabrous, yellowish, usually reddish at nodes, to 90 cm long. Leaf blades 0.5-3.5 x 0.5-3.2 cm, obovate, spatulate, rounded, elliptic, or ovate, fleshy, glabrous, the apex acute, apiculate, obtuse, or retuse, the base acute, obtuse, or rounded, the margins entire, with reddish hue; petioles 0.2-2 cm long. Secondary branches short, with clustered leaves, opposite to larger leaf of node; stipules lanceolate, ca. 3 mm long. Flowers solitary in leaf axils; calyx pink within, green externally with pink hornlike keel, the sepals ovate or oblong, ca. 5 mm long; stamens 10, pink; stigmas 2, white. Capsule, 4-5 mm long, truncate at apex with a 2-sided crest. Seeds kidney-shaped, blackish, with radiating ridges.
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Distribution
Along waste ground or open areas. Annaberg (W512), Cruz Bay (A2875), Johnson Bay (A3160). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; common throughout tropical and subtropical America.
Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|