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Portulaca oleracea
Portulaca oleracea
(Click image to Enlarge)
Photographs by:
Dr. Maulik Gadani
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Botanical Name :
Portulaca oleracea
L.
Common Name :
Purslane, Ghol, Motiluni-ni-Bhaji
Plant Family :
Portulacaceae
Plant Form :
Herb
Occurrence (Special Areas) :
Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Ayurvedic Udyan, Van Chetana Kendra
About Portulaca oleracea Plant :
Habit :
An annual succulent, prostrate herb with stem reddish, swollen at nodes.
Leaves :
Fleshy, subsessile, alternate, or subopposite, triangular, rounded and truncate at the apex, margins reddish stipules absent.
Flowers :
Yellow coloured, few together, in sessile terminal heads, opening only in the sunny mornings, close by noon.
Sepals 2, unequal, obtuse.
Petals 5, obovate.
Stamens 8-12, inserted at the base of the petals.
Ovary ovoid, half-inferior, 1-ccelled, ovules many, style 3-5 or 8-partite.
Fruit :
Pyxis or pyxidium, dehisces transversely, seeds many and black.
Flowering and Fruiting Time :
September - December
Significance :
Normally grown as an ornamental plant.
The leaves are used as a potherb.
The leaves are also known to be used in bilious conditions and low fever, ally thrust and headache.