Portulaca halimoides

Desert portulaca

Family: Portulacaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Desert portulaca is a California native annual found in the Peninsular Ranges, southern desert, and Mojave Desert in sandy washes and flats at elevations of 1,000 to 1,200 meters. Flowering in September, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with 1.5 to 3.5 millimeter petals in clusters of 2 to 8 blooms. Growing with spreading to ascending stems 2 to 15 centimeters tall, it forms low, compact growth with delicate branching. Its small leaves range from 3 to 15 millimeters long, creating a compact ground-hugging form. The fruit is tiny, measuring 1.5 to 2 millimeters wide, with black or metallic silver seeds.

Habitat: Sandy washes, flats

Bloom period: Sep

Elevation: 1000-1200 m

Bioregions: PR, DSon, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.