Portulaca pilosa L., Portulacaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: mao ma chi xian

English: hairy pigweed

Hawaiian: ‘ākulikuli

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Perennial herbs from a taproot; stems green when young, usually purplish red when exposed to sun, prostate to weakly ascending, 3-20 cm long, forming irregular mats.  Leaves alternate or clustered at the ends of the branches, oblong-elliptic to linear, 4-15 (-25) mm long, 0.5-2 (-4) mm wide, petioles ca. 1-2 mm long, with a tuft of hairs 1-18 mm long in the axil.  Flowers (1) 2-10 in congested terminal cymes subtended by a series of involucrate leaves ca. 10-12 mm long, bracteoles 0.7-2.5 mm long, partly obscured by hairs ca. 3-18 mm long; sepals 2.5-5 mm long, margins somewhat scarious, apex sometimes inconspicuously hooded; petals (4) 5, magenta, obovate, 5-6 (-10) mm long; stamens (7-) 20-30; anthers globose to elliptic; style 3-7-branched.  Capsules broadly ellipsoid, ca. 2-3 (-4) mm long, circumscissile at or slightly below middle. Seeds dark blue with a metallic luster, the surface tuberculate, especially along margins" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1072-1074).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in usually dry, open, strand to coastal habitats or lava  fields, 0-620 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1072-1074). On Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), naturalized in gardens and on beaches (Swarbrick, 1997; p. 124).  In Papua New Guinea (presumably native), "cultivated as an ornamental plant, sometimes used in medicine.  Waste places among waysides, near shores, in garden beds"  (Conn, 1995; p. 216).

Propagation:  Seed (Swarbrick, 1997; p. 124).

Native range:  Pantropical (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1072-1074).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Observed in survey, no herbarium record.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1072-1074)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1072-1074) Voucher cited: Skottsberg 1062 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Ni‘ihau, Lehua Islet	introduced invasive	Wood, K. R./LeGrande, Maya (2006) (p. 27)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1072-1074)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1072-1074)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Ni‘ihau Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1072-1074)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1072-1074)
Japan (offshore islands) Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Lifou	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 118) Voucher cited: MacKee 5198
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Maré	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 118) Vouchers cited: Däniker 2606 (Z), Baumann 14543
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 118) Voucher cited: MacKee 16818 Spontané
Palau Palau (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)		Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim (2010) (p. 38) subsp. pilosa and subsp. grandiflora (Hook.) Geesink
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	Conn, Barry J., ed. (1995) (pp. 215-218) Subsp. pilosa

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Dry open places near seashores".
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 79)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 181)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	native	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 72) Critically endangered
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 292)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 292)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced invasive	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 124)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Portulaca pilosa is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Portulaca pilosa as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Portulaca pilosa may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Conn, Barry J., ed. 1995. Handbooks of the flora of Papua New Guinea, vol. 3. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. 292 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Kato, Hidetoshi. 2007. Herbarium records of Makino Herbarium, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Personal communication.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim. 2010. Checklist of the plants of Palau. Unpublished checklist. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 44 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie. 2009. Report to the Republic of Palau: 2008 update on Invasive Plant Species. USDA Forest Service, Hilo, Hawai‘i. 227 pp.

Swarbrick, J. T. 1997. Environmental weeds and exotic plants on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: a report to Parks Australia. 101 pp. plus appendix.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Wood, K. R./LeGrande, Maya. 2006. An annotated checklist and new island records of flowering plants from Lehua Islet, Ni‘ihau, Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004-2005. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 87:19-29.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).