PURSLANE FAMILY (Portulacaceae)
LANCE-LEAVED PORTULACA SMALL-FLOWERED TALINUM
Herbs or undershrubs, often succulent; sepals 2; petals 4-6, soon falling; stamens few or many; ovary 1-celled; fruit a capsule opening by valves or a transverse split.
Lance-Leaved Portulaca (Portulaca lanceolata) is a weed found in sandy soil from Central and Southern Texas to Arizona. The flowers are less than half an inch broad with 5 pinkish-yellow petals and 7-27 stamens. It may be distinguished from other portulacas by the crown-like rim around the capsule. Hairy rose moss (Portulaca pilosa) is more abundant and showy, with purplish-red flowers nearly an inch broad, greatly resembling the large-flowered rose moss in cultivation. The capsule of the portulacas opens by a cap.
Small-Flowered Talinum (Talinum parviflorum) has small pink flowers about ½ in. broad, which, like those of the portulacas, require bright sunlight for opening. These dainty flowers grow on slender stalks from a cluster of short, rounded leaves and may be found in rocky soil from Minnesota to Texas during the summer months.