Plants of
South Australia
Portulaca intraterranea
Portulacaceae
Inland Purslane,
Buttercup Purslane
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Vulnerable
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Prior names

Portulaca oleracea var. grandiflora

Common names

Inland Purslane

Buttercup Purslane

Etymology

Portulaca from the Latin 'portula' meaning a small gate or door; probably alluding to the calyptra (covering tissue) of the capsule.

Distribution and status

Found in the north-eastern part of South Australia, growing on sand dunes. Also found in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other states.
Herbarium region: Lake Eyre
NRM region: South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Prostrate to decumbent succulent annual or sometimes perennial herb with stems to 20 cm long. Leaves, succulent, obovate to oblanceolate to 20 mm long. Flowers in clusters of 3 to 4 heads, with yellow petals to 17 mm long, twice as long as sepals. Flowering between August and December. Fruits are pale brown capsules to 5 mm long. Seeds are dark brown to black reniform seed to 0.8 mm long and 0.6 mm wide, with surface covered in star-shaped reticulate and tubercules. Seed embryo type is peripheral.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and March. Collect mature capsules, those that are turning yellow or pale brown colour and contain black seeds Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
43,500 (3.75 g)
43,500 (3.75 g)
5011-Mar-2007RJB70962
Gairdner-Torrens
1-Aug-2007100%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.