PORTULACACEAE

PURSLANE FAMILY

Annual or perennial herb, generally fleshy
Stems generally glabrous
Leaves simple, alternate or opposite, sometimes stipuled
Inflorescence various
Flower bisexual, radial; sepals generally 2(–8), free or fused at base; petals 3–18, free or ± fused; stamens 1–many, free or inserted on corolla; ovary superior or partly inferior, chamber 1, placenta free-central or basal; styles 2–8, generally fused at base
Fruit: capsule, circumscissile or 2–3-valved
Seeds 1–many, generally black, generally shiny
Genera in family: ± 20 genera, ± 400 species: generally temp Am, Australia, s Africa; some cultivated (Lewisia, Portulaca, Calandrinia )
Reference: [Bogle 1969 J Arnold Arbor 50:566–598]
Family description and key to genera by Dieter H. Wilken & Walter A. Kelley.

CALYPTRIDIUM

PUSSYPAWS

Dieter H. Wilken and Walter A. Kelley

Annual, perennial herb, ± fleshy, from taproot or fibrous roots, generally glabrous
Stems generally several, generally spreading to ascending
Leaves in basal rosette or basal and cauline, simple, oblanceolate to spoon-shaped
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, or umbel, scapose, leafy, or bracted; flowers generally on 1 side of axis, deciduous or persistent in fruit; bracts generally < sepals, scarious
Flower: sepals 2, ovate to reniform, generally scarious or scarious-margined, persistent in fruit; petals 2–4, minute, < sepals, tips adherent and cap-like in fruit, falling as 1 unit; stamens 1–3; style 0 or 1, thread-like, stigmas generally 2
Fruit: capsule, generally translucent, 2-valved, generally compressed, oblong to ± round
Seeds 1–many, black, generally shiny
Species in genus: 8 species: w Am
Etymology: (Greek: cap, from petals in fruit)
Reference: [Hinton 1975 Brittonia 27:197–208; Thomas 1956 Leafl W Bot 8:9–11]
Observation of flower, seeds requires 20X magnification.

Native

C. monandrum Nutt.

Annual, 1.5–18 cm; taproot slender
Stems spreading to decumbent, leafy
Leaves basal and cauline; basal 1–5 cm, withering in fruit; cauline 1–2(4) cm
Inflorescence: raceme or panicle, 1–4 cm, generally open, axillary; bracts narrowly ovate; flowers subsessile, generally persistent in fruit
Flower: sepals 1–2 mm, ovate to deltate, fleshy, becoming membranous, narrowly white-margined; petals 3, 1–3 mm, pink to reddish; stamen generally 1; stigmas sessile
Fruit 3–6 mm, oblong
Seeds 4–10
Ecology: Sandy soils, open sites, burned areas, scrub
Elevation: < 2150 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountain Area, s San Joaquin Valley, Inner South Coast Ranges, Southwestern California, East of Sierra Nevada, Desert
Distribution outside California: Nevada, Arizona
Flowering time: Mar–Jun
Horticultural information: TRY.