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Portulaca grandiflora
Portulacaceae FAMILY

Portulaca grandiflora

Portulaca grandiflora

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
Growth—

Although a perennial when grown in warmer climates, the plant is best treated as a half-hardy annual in temperate regions[1]. Plants are adaptable to most soils, though they prefer a rather dry poor soil in full sun[1, 2, 3]. Succeeds in a hot dry position, and dislikes wet soils[PFAF]. Plants are drought tolerant[3]. There are some named forms selected for their ornamental value[4]. Individual flowers open in the morning and only last for one day[3].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse, pricking out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Plant out after the last expected frosts. The seed can also be sown in situ in late spring, though the plants will not grow so large this way. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Portulaca+grandiflora>

Pollinators

Insects, Self

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Tropical Ornamentals; A Guide — Whistler. W. Arthur. · Timber Press Inc. Oregon. · 2000 · ISBN 0-88192-448-2 ↩︎An excellent little guide to some of the more commonly cultivated ornamental plants of the Tropics, often giving some information on the plants other uses.
  4. [4]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  5. [5]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]Food Plants of the N. American Indians. — Yanovsky. E. · U.S. Depf of Agriculture. · ISBN - ↩︎A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.
  8. [8]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  9. [9]Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. — Yeung. Him-Che. · Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles · 1985 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.
  10. [10]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  11. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎