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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.

MONTIA

Kenton L. Chambers

Annual or perennial herb, glabrous, ± fleshy, sometimes ± aquatic, sometimes matted
Leaves: cauline > 2, alternate or opposite, entire
Inflorescence: raceme, 1-sided; lowest flower generally bracted; pedicels recurved, erect in fruit
Flower: petals (3–)5, equal or 2 larger; stamens (3–)5, filaments fused to corolla-base; ovary chamber 1, placentas basal, style 1, stigmas 3
Fruit: capsule; valves 3, margins rolling inward and forcibly expelling seeds
Seeds 1–3, generally black, smooth to tubercled, fleshy-appendaged or not
Species in genus: 12 species: Am, Siberia, Australia
Etymology: (Giuseppe Monti, Italian botanist, 1682–1760)
Reference: [McNeill 1975 Can J Bot 53:789–809]
Sometimes divided into 9 genera.

Native

M. diffusa (Nutt.) Greene

Annual 5–20 cm, erect, generally diffusely branched
Leaves basal and cauline, alternate; blade 8–50 mm, < or = petiole, lanceolate to deltate, tip acute to obtuse, base wedge-shaped to cordate
Inflorescences generally many, terminal; flowers 3–10
Flower: sepals 1.8–3.5 mm, widely obovate, obtuse to truncate; petals 3–4.5 mm, equal, pink or white; stamens 5
Fruit 2.3–3 mm
Seed 1.3–1.5 mm, generally ± smooth (or minutely netted); appendage protruding
Chromosomes: 2n=16
Ecology: Uncommon. Often disturbed or burned coniferous forest or mixed woodland
Elevation: < 1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California, n Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia

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