Trianthema portulacastrum L.
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Description
Trianthema portulacastrum is a prostrate to ascending, succulent annual herb with diffusely branched, glabrous to sparsely pubescent stems. The nodes are conspicuously thickened and somewhat flattened. Leaves are opposite but markedly unequal within each pair, orbicular to obovate or obcordate, fleshy, with entire to slightly undulate margins; the petiole is dilated at the base into a conspicuous membranous sheath. Flowers are solitary, sessile, and axillary, partially enclosed within the petiolar sheath. The perianth consists of five pink to pale rose lobes with a short apical mucro. Stamens are numerous (10–25), unequal in length, surrounding a single style. The fruit is a circumscissile pyxidium, the upper operculum containing one or two seeds, while the lower portion encloses several additional black, reniform, rugose seeds.
Diagnostic Characters
Distribution
Native range: Tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Introduced range: Naturalized throughout warm-temperate and tropical regions worldwide.
Phenology
Ethnobotany & Uses
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Taxonomic Notes
The species is readily recognized by its unequal opposite leaves with sheathing petioles and circumscissile pyxidia. It is among the most common annual succulent weeds of cultivated lands throughout tropical regions.