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Purslane family
Portulacaceae Juss.
スベリヒユ科
A small family distributed from temperate to tropical regions worldwide. Under APG IV, many former members were transferred to Montiaceae and others, but Portulaca remains in this family. In Japan, Portulaca oleracea (purslane) grows widely along roadsides and in fields, used as food and folk medicine.
Key Characteristics
- ●Succulent herbs (C4 or CAM photosynthesis)
- ●Leaves are alternate to opposite, succulent
- ●Petals are 2 (distinguished from 2 sepals)
- ●Fruit is a circumscissile capsule (pyxidium)
- ●Some seeds have an aril (strophiole)
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Opposite
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Present / Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
Many
Petal fusion
Fused
Ovary position
Superior / Half-inferior
Stamen count
1-2
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Caryophyllales > Portulacaceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene (ca. 50 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Acquisition of CAM photosynthesis for adaptation to extremely arid and hot environments
- ・Establishment of a distinctive floral form with only 2 petals
Plants in Purslane family on this site
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