Practical
Plants

Portulaca retusa

an annual member of the Portulaca genus in the family Portulacaceae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Life cycle
annual
Height
0.2 m
Fertility
Self fertile, Insects, Self
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Insects, Self

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Leaves - raw or cooked[7][2][3]. Seed - raw or cooked. Ground into a powder and used as a mush[3].

Plant part
Leaves
Plant part
Seed

Environment

Range
Eastern N. America - Missouri to Arkansas and Texas, west to Nevada.
Habitat
Rocky glades, sands etc[6]. The plants often grow in large patches a metre or more in diameter[5].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Soil textures
sandy, loamy
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage
well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - sow spring in situ[4].

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will succeed outdoors in Britain, though we feel it should be possible to grow it either as a hardy or a half-hardy annual. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Prefers a rather dry poor soil in full sun[1][4].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

    ↩

  2. Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00

    ↩

  3. Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.

    ↩1↩2

  4. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩1↩2

  5. Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970-00-00 ISBN 0-486-22642-5

    ↩

  6. Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950-00-00

    ↩

  7. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202

    ↩

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