Trianthema portulacastrum

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:AIZOACEAE
Species:Trianthema portulacastrum L.
Common Name:Desert Horse Purslane
Habitat:Disturbed areas, railroad yards, fields.
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Annual
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:TRPO2
Plant Notes:Desert Horse Purslane is an introduced succulent annual in the Ice-Plant family (Aizoaceae). It is native to desert areas of the western United States south through Central and South America and in Africa. In Alabama in has been collected in urban areas and in the Black Belt region. Desert Horse Purslane grows along railroad tracks, in cracks in pavement, in fallow fields, and in waste areas. It is an annual with a tap root. Stems are trailing, succulent, red or green in color, and glabrous except for lines of hairs near the leaf petioles. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, elliptic to orbiculate in outline, succulent, and glabrous. Flowers are solitary and sessile in the axils of the leaves. The flowers lack petals but the tips of the sepals are purple in color and petal-like. The fruit is a cylindrical, corky capsule. The bottom portion of the capsule is embedded in the stem. The apical portion of the capsule contains a single seed and when detached it is carried away in floods. The basal portion of the capsule remains attached to the remnants of the parent plant and the seed are released as it decays. Desert Horse Purslane is allelopathic—releasing chemicals than inhibit the germination or growth of other plants. Desert Horse Purslane contains the alkaloid trianthemine and the steroid ecdysterone, and has been used in herbal medicine.—A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native, FACW (DEP), FACW (NWI)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyAIZOACEAE - Fig-Marigold or Ice-Plant family
Genus Trianthema
Species Trianthema portulacastrum L. - Desert Horse Purslane

Citation

Citation Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 223–224. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: Without data (lectotype: "Portulaca Corassavica Angusto longo lucidoque folio" in Hermann, Parad. Bot. t. 213. 1698). Lectotypified by C. Jeffrey, Kew Bull. 14: 236. 1960.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Meridiana axilliflora Bot. Zeitung (Regensburg) 3: 354. 1804.  
Portulaca axilliflora Syn. Pl. 2: 6. 1806.Meridiana axilliflora Schrank 1804. 
Portulaca axilliflora Fl. Filip., ed. 2. 285. 1845, non (Schrank) Persoon   
Portulaca teston Fl. Filip. 408. 1837.  
Trianthema monogyna Mant. Pl. 69. 1767, nom. illegit.Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus 1753. 
Trianthema procumbens Gard. Dict., ed. 8. 1768.  
Trianthema flexuosa Schumacher, Beskr. Guin. Pl. 221. 1828.  
Trianthema obcordata Fl. Indica, ed. 1832. 2: 445. 1832. INDIA:

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Jefferson, Marengo, Mobile, Montgomery

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, BRIT, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1944 - 1944

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.		 Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used		 Image
AUA000037447 Montgomery 4 Oct 2016 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#2676		 AUA
Trianthema Portulacastrum L.
JSU107611 Jefferson 17 Oct 1975 Radford, Albert E.
6906		 JSU
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
ALNHS00008290 Mobile 03 Aug 2023 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#6119		 ALNHS
Trianthema portulacastrum L.
BRIT68378 Mobile 15 Aug 1973 Kral, Robert
51367		 BRIT
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
SAMF0003710 Marengo 28 Jun 2011 England, J. Kevin
2967		 SAMF
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
TROY000034143 Marengo 28 Jun 2011 England, J. Kevin
2967		 TROY
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
UWAL0004886 Marengo 28 Jun 2011 England, J. Kevin
2967		 UWAL
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
BRIT68379 Montgomery 05 Sep 2010 Diamond, Alvin R.
21559		 BRIT
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
TROY000033004 Montgomery 05 Sep 2010 Diamond, Alvin R.
21559		 TROY
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
UWAL0002291 Marengo 12 Jul 2008 Spaulding, Daniel D.
13004		 UWAL
Trianthema portulacastrum L.
UNA00033011 Jefferson 06 Sep 1944 Harper, Roland M.
3978		 UNA
Trianthema portulacastrum L.
JSU107613 Jefferson 17 Sep 1982 Whetstone, R. David
12479		 JSU
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
TROY000034746 Marengo 12 Jul 2008 Spaulding, Daniel D.
13004		 TROY
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
AMAL00018813 Marengo 12 Jul 2008 Spaulding, Daniel D.
13004		 AMAL
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
AUA000026213 Marengo 12 Jul 2008 Spaulding, Daniel D.
13004		 AUA
Trianthema Portulacastrum L.
UWAL0002858 Montgomery 05 Sep 2010 Diamond, Alvin R.
21559		 UWAL
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
UWAL0013650 Mobile 25 Jun 2013 Diamond, Alvin R.
24279		 UWAL
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
JSU107612 Jefferson 17 Oct 1975 Radford, Albert E.
6906		 JSU
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
TROY000038372 Mobile 25 Jun 2013 Diamond, Alvin R.
24279		 TROY
Trianthema portulacastrum Linnaeus
ALNHS00004339 Montgomery 04 Oct 2016 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#2676		 ALNHS
Trianthema portulacastrum L.
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