potulaca

Appearance

The plant may reach 40 centimetres in height. It has smooth, reddish, mostly prostrate stems, and the leaves, which may be alternate or opposite, are clustered at stem joints and ends. The yellow flowers have five regular parts and are up to 6 millimetres wide. Depending upon rainfall, the flowers appear at any time during the year. The flowers open singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. The tiny seeds are formed in a pod that opens when the seeds mature. Purslane has a taproot with fibrous secondary roots and can tolerate poor soil and drought.

The fruits are many-seeded capsules. The seed set is considerable; one plant can develop up to 193,000 seeds. The seeds germinate optimally at a temperature above 25 °C; they are light germinators, with even a soil cover of 5 mm having a negative effect on germination.

Naming

The specific epithet ''oleracea'' means "vegetable/herbal" in Latin and is a form of holeraceus .

Distribution

Purslane has an extensive distribution, assumed to be mostly anthropogenic , extending from North Africa and Southern Europe through the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to Malesia and Australasia. The species status in the Americas is uncertain. In general, it is often considered an exotic weed, but there is evidence that the species was in Crawford Lake deposits in 1350–1539, suggesting that it reached North America in the pre-Columbian era. Scientists suggested that the plant was already eaten by Native Americans, who spread its seeds. How it reached the Americas is currently unknown.

Habitat

Purslane has an extensive distribution, assumed to be mostly anthropogenic , extending from North Africa and Southern Europe through the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to Malesia and Australasia. The species status in the Americas is uncertain. In general, it is often considered an exotic weed, but there is evidence that the species was in Crawford Lake deposits in 1350–1539, suggesting that it reached North America in the pre-Columbian era. Scientists suggested that the plant was already eaten by Native Americans, who spread its seeds. How it reached the Americas is currently unknown.Compared to other common crops, ''P. oleracea'' is more tolerant of pests due to its waxy cover, which protects the plant from insects and diseases. In some instances, ''P. oleracea'' is even known to have antifungal properties. However some phytotoxic metabolites of ''Drechslera indica'', a fungus, can cause necrosis on purslane. ''Dichotomophthora portulacae'', another fungus, can cause stem rot.

''Schizocerella pilicornis'' and ''Hypurus bertrandi'' are known to feed on ''Portulaca oleracea''. In some instances, they may help control the competitiveness of ''P. oleracea'' to prevent weed infestation in fields where ''P. oleracea'' is not wanted, however, they do not stop it from growing completely.

Cultural

Archaeobotanical finds are common at many Mediterranean prehistoric sites. In historic contexts, seeds have been retrieved from a protogeometric layer in Kastanas, as well as from the Samian Heraion dating to the 7th century BC. In the 4th century BC, Theophrastus names purslane, andrákhne , as one of the several summer pot herbs that must be sown in April . As ''Portulaca'' it figures in the long list of comestibles enjoyed by the Milanese given by Bonvesin de la Riva in his "Marvels of Milan" .

In antiquity, its healing properties were thought so reliable that Pliny the Elder advised wearing the plant as an amulet to expel all evil .

''Verdolaga'', the Spanish word for purslane, is a nickname for South American football clubs with green-white schemes in their uniforms, including Colombia's Atletico Nacional and Argentina's Ferrocarril Oeste. Afro-Colombian singer Totó la Momposina sings a song entitled “La Verdolaga.”