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.
PINK FAMILY (Caryophyllaceae)
WESTERN CHICKWEED NUTTALL’S STARWORT
Stems usually swollen at the joints; leaves opposite; sepals 4-5; petals 4-5, or absent; stamens usually 8-10; ovary usually 1-celled.
Western Chickweed (Cerastium brachypodum) is one of the early spring flowers to be found throughout the state, ranging from Illinois to Oregon and Mexico. The 5 small white petals are notched at the apex. The name is derived from the Greek meaning “horny” and refers to the horn-shaped capsule from which the seeds are scattered through the opening at the top. Several other chickweeds are found in the state in early spring.
Nuttall’s Starwort or Chickweed (Stellaria nuttallii) is a lovely white-flowered chickweed found on moist sandy prairies or in open woods in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana in March and April. The flowers are about 1 in. broad, and the 5 broad petals are deeply notched at the apex.