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Portulaca oleracea L.
Synonym
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Portulaca oleracea f. alba
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Family
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Portulacaceae
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Local name
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English - Garden purselane
Malayalam –
Uppucheera
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Flowering and fruiting period
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June-September
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Distribution
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Pantropical
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Distribution in kerala
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All Districts
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Habitat
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Wet areas in degraded forests, also in
the plains
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Uses
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Used as a purgative,
cardiac tonic, emollient, muscle relaxant, and anti-inflammatory and diuretic
treatment makes it important in herbal medicine. .
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Key botanical
characters:
Annual herb,
glabrous, fleshy with numerous decumbent branches, to 35 cm long. Leaves
spiral or subopposite, often crowded at ends of branches, sessile or
subsessile, obovate or spatulate to linear-oblong, cuneate or attenuate at
base, rounded or truncate at apex; stipular hairs very few,
inconspicuouscaducous. Flowers sessile, , terminal, 1-15, surrounded by a
cluster of crowded leaves; bracts ovate-acuminate, , membranous. Sepals
connate at base into a ca 2 mm long tube; lobes oblong-ovate, keeled or
slightly winged on back. Petals 4 or 5, connate at base, broadly obovate or
oblong-obovate, rarely emarginate at apex, , yellow. Stamens 7-12(-15); filaments
to 4 mm long. Ovary ovoid; style short, 3-6 subulate lobes. Capsules obovoid
to ovoidenveloped by marcescent corolla, dehiscing transversely in middle;
seeds many, reniform, 0, granular, dull black.
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