Portulaca
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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
Portulacaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Genus Description - Erect, prostrate, or decumbent, fleshy herbs, with tuberous or fibrous roots. Leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, succulent, shortpetiolate; stipules deeply dissected or hairlike. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, axillary, solitary or fascicled; calyx of 2 sepals; petals 5 or seldom numerous, brightly colored, early deciduous; stamens as many as the petals, adnate to corolla at base, the anthers opening by longitudinal slits; ovary superior, 2-3-locular, the locules with many ovules, the styles 3-9, free to base, the stigma linear. Fruit a circumscissile capsule with many reniform, smooth or tuberculate, minute seeds.
Distribution and Ecology - A genus of about 200 species, widely distributed in the tropical and temperate zones.