Portulaca oleracea L.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Portulacaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Portulaca oleracea L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Prostrate or decumbent herb, to 30 cm long, many-branched from a taprooted base; stems succulent, glabrous or pilose at nodes, usually reddish-tinged. Leaves alternate; blades 0.7-2.5 x 0.4-1.1 cm, spatulate or obovate, thick, fleshy, glabrous, the apex rounded to truncate, the base tapering to a short petiole, the margins sometimes pinkish-tinged. Flowers solitary or a few at ends of branches. Sepals green, keeled; petals 5, 3-4.5 mm long, yellow, elliptic, emarginate. Capsule 2.5-3.7 mm wide, ovoid, opening at or below the middle. Seeds ca. 0.7 mm long, dark brown to black, tuberculate.

  • Discussion

    Common names: jump up an' kiss me, purslane.

  • Distribution

    A common weed of open areas, such as roadsides and sandy coasts. Road to Lameshur (A2791), Waterlemon Bay (A1937). Also on all of the Virgin Islands; a cosmopolitan weed.

    Virgin Islands South America|