Portulaca oleracea

Purslane

Family: Portulacaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Purslane is a naturalized annual or somewhat perennial herb found in California's disturbed soil areas at elevations below 2,100 meters. Flowering from April to October, this plant produces small, bright yellow flowers 3 to 5 millimeters long with green or reddish sepals. Growing with spreading stems 3 to 40 centimeters long, it forms low, sprawling mats across the ground. Its small, fleshy leaves are 3 to 30 millimeters long, creating a dense, ground-hugging habit. Individual flowers appear singularly or in clusters of up to 8, with 5 to 12 stamens supporting each bloom.

Habitat: Disturbed soil

Bloom period: Apr-Oct

Elevation: < 2100 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: San Bernardino, Orange, Imperial, San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, Inyo, Plumas, Kern, Lake, Mono, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tuolumne, Ventura, Stanislaus, San Luis Obispo, El Dorado, Butte, Calaveras, Fresno, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, San Mateo, Sutter, Trinity, Yolo, San Francisco, Sacramento, Solano, Lassen, Tehama, Colusa, Yuba, Modoc, Alameda, Merced, San Joaquin, Humboldt, Contra Costa, Mariposa

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