Portulaca grandiflora Hook.

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Equisetopsida > Caryophyllales > Portulacaceae > Portulaca > P. grandiflora

Description: Annual or short lived perennial herbs, about 5-30 cm long, stem decumbent or prostrate, usually woody at the base, branched, main root tuberous, fibrous, fleshy, rooting at nodes, trichomes present on nodes and inflorescence. Leaves simple, subopposite or alternate, or uppermost usually clustered and with trichomes, linear subulate, about 13-25 x 1-4 mm across, base slightly connate, margin entire, apex subacute to acute, curved, terete fleshy thick, petiole subsessile to sessile. Inflorescence axillary or terminal clusters or capituli, flowering successively, about 2-30 flowered, subtented by 5-8 involucre-like bracts. Flowers bisexual, about 2.5 cm across, pedicel subsessile or sessile, open only during sunshine, bracts foliaceous, bracteoles deltoid, hairy with about 10 mm long hairs, sepals 2, ovate-deltoid, base clasping, margins scarious or herbaceous, apex keeled, about 5-12 mm long, petals 5, many in cultivated varieties, red, pink, blue, indigo, orange, yellow, free or subconnate at the base, obovate, margins entire, apex obtuse, about 10-25 x 6-10 mm across. Stamens 8-9 in one whorl, up to 40-75, adnate to petals inserted on calyx, filaments basally connate, about 2.5-6 mm long, anthers 2-4 locular, dorsifixed. Ovary semi inferior, unilocular, ovules 4-many on free central placentation, style 5 fid, about 8-13 mm long, stigmas 5, linear, about 2.5-3 mm long. Fruit capsule, globose-ovoid, about 5 mm across, papery, dehiscing circumscissile at the middle. Seeds many, reniform-globose, about 6 mm across, laterally compressed, reddish brown, tuberculate.

Flowering and Fruiting: Throughout the year

Uses : Cultivated as ornamental, also used in folk medicine.

Cultivated: cultivated

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org