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Portulaca grandiflora

Portulaca grandiflora

Hook.
Flor De Un Día

Family: Portulacaceae
Order: Caryophyllales
Class: Magnoliopsida
Phylum / Division: Magnoliophyta
Kingdom: Plantae

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Other common names: Telqui, Flor De Seda.





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Description


Portulaca grandiflora is a succulent flowering plant in the purslane family Portulacaceae, native to southern Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay and often cultivated in gardens. It has many common names, including rose moss, eleven o´clock, Mexican rose, moss rose, sun rose, rose Jepun, table rose, rock rose, and moss-rose purslane. Despite these names and the superficial resemblance of some cultivars´ flowers to roses, it is not a true rose, nor even a part of the rose family or rosid group; rather, it is much more closely related to carnations and cacti.

It is also seen in South Asia and widely spread in most of the cities with old 18th- and 19th-century architecture in the Balkans.

 It is a small, but fast-growing annual plant growing to 30 cm tall, though usually less. However, if it is cultivated properly, it can easily reach this height. The leaves are thick and fleshy, up to 2.5 cm long, arranged alternately or in small clusters. The flowers are 2.5–3 cm diameter with five petals, variably red, orange, pink, white, and yellow. Their upright, or ascending, long shoots branch usually near the base. The spreading 20-to-25-millimeters-long and 2-to-3-millimeters-wide leaves are almost or completely stalk-shaped, and taper towards the tip.

The axillary leaves have few to numerous whitish, woolly hairs which are usually shorter than the sheets. The compressed inflorescences are surrounded by eight to ten leaves. The large flowers reach a diameter of up to 4 centimetres. The five bright magenta-coloured petals are obovate and 15 to 26 millimeters long. Around the ovary with four to nine whitish scars are about 50 stamens. Capsules and seeds are not visible.

P. grandiflora is one of the few plants that is a /CAM intermediate, utilizing both carbon fixation and Crassulacean acid metabolism pathways in different cells for photosynthesis.

Cultivation and uses: Numerous cultivars have been selected for double flowers with additional petals, and for variation in flower colour, plain or variegated. It is widely grown in temperate climates as an ornamental plant for annual bedding or as a container plant. It requires ample sunlight and well-drained soils. It requires almost no attention and spreads itself very easily. In places with old architecture it can grow between the stones of the road or sidewalk. Seeds are often sold as mixtures, such as Double Flowering Mixture (see illustrations). It grows on sandy soils. In countries with a frost-free climate, it is wild.

Unlike P. oleracea and P. umbraticola, it is not edible because of its bitter taste. There are hybrids of P. grandiflora with P. oleracea, umbraticola and villosa.

It is visited by honeybees for its pollen and nectar.

Source: Wikipedia, article Portulaca grandiflora. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 17/07/2026.





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Species records

Count: 24



Page 1 of 3
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
244302506/03/2026ArgentinaCiudad Autónoma de Buenos AiresReserva Ecológica Ciudad Universitaria - Costanera Norte (RECU-CN)Marcos Garberoglio
244525617/02/2026ArgentinaLa PampaLaguna La Peluda, Departamento UtracanHugo Alberto Valderrey
244524915/02/2026ArgentinaLa PampaParque Nacional Lihué Calel, Dto Lihuel CalelHugo Alberto Valderrey
226882801/04/2025ArgentinaCatamarcaCollagasta, departamento Fray Mamerto Esquiú.Rodolfo Julio Velazquez
226416919/03/2025ArgentinaLa PampaSendero de la laguna Parque Luro, Reserva Provincial Parque LuroHugo Alberto Valderrey
226155702/03/2025ArgentinaLa PampaAlrededores del PN Lihue calelFernanda Ferrari
224553901/02/202508:17ArgentinaSanta FeVilla California, San José del Rincón1Gustavo Fernando Durán
224567716/01/2025ArgentinaLa RiojaReserva Natural Pampa de la Viuda AgustinaCarlos De Biagi
224263116/11/202411:04ArgentinaEntre RíosParque Nacional Pre-Delta1Gustavo Fernando Durán
220931815/10/2024ParaguaySan PedroAgroforestal Rio verdeLuis Cesar Tejo
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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Portulaca grandiflora – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 14/09/2026.