I've been vaguely, passively confused about purslane, moss roses, and those plants they sell that look like purslane with differently colored flowers. The latter are often labeled P. oleracea but when one investigates this species, which always has yellow flowers, this doesn't jive. I've been blowing it off as something I just didn't understand, some trick of selective breeding, but this morning I decided to see if I could sort out my confusion.
I encountered this info, in blog form:
http://australianportulaca.blo...
There's a lot more info for those interested, but the crux of it for me is that I've been involved with 3 different plants, when I thought they were only 2, or different versions of those two. And that the third plant is not a cross between P. grandiflora and P. oleracea.
* The edible known as purslane is P. oleracea, and has flat, fat foliage, yellow flowers with 5 petals.
* Those with foliage like 'juicy pine needles' are P. grandiflora, variously colored, multi-petaled flowers.
* The one with foliage that looks like purslane, sold in stores as annuals with variously colored flowers, with varying numbers of petals, is P. umbraticola.
What are your folks' thoughts? Confirmation? Nullification? If this info is correct, it's very helpful, and simple enough for me to understand, remember, and easily differentiate these plants.
It also makes me wonder why they didn't just label "those other ones" P. umbraticola to begin with?! People who buy by sight already wanted them before reading a label, who may never read the label. But they missed the whole segment that buys names, wants every different species of certain genera, and/or very interested in knowing the correct names for the plants they have.
If this is true, some of the pics in the database for both P. oleracea and P. grandiflora should be moved. The good news is that we already have some good pics of P. umbraticola (if true.)
