Flowers and leaves. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Flowering plant. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Common Name

Large Pigweed

Family

Portulacaceae

Notes

Annual or sometimes perennial forb, prostrate or sprawling, or to 20cm tall.  Succulent leaves and stems.  Leaves spiralling along the stems to nearly opposite each other, 0.6-2.5cm long, 4-10mm wide, flat, hairless, with blunt or sometimes notched tips.  Flowers yellow, with 5 notched petals, in 1-4 flowered clusters at the bases of the leaves.

Differs from Portulaca oleracea in that the petals are 10-17mm long, and twice as long as the sepals.

Description in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 300

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Portulaca~intraterranea