Common name : Purslane, common purslane, pig weed
Common name in Bengali : Bara laniya, ghee kalam, nunia
Common name in Hindi : Bara lunia, ghee kalam, nunia
Bangla English Hindi Urdu
Diagnostic characters
Biology
Ecology and distribution
Nuisance
Weed control
Botany
Uses/Remark
References
The pourslane is an annual herb with succulent stems that may grow erect or prostrate, depending on light conditions. It develops a deep taproot.
The main stem ramifies into numerous secondary stems spread over the ground and sometimes raised. They are smooth and fleshy, more or less reddish. The leaves have an opposite attachment. They are practically without petiole. The lamina is fleshy in shape of spatula, often reddish when the plant is an adult. Flowers are small, sessile, of yellow color, grouped at the top of branches, in the base of leaves. The fruits are small. They open in maturity by a lid, which eventually fallen. Seeds are small and blacks.
The pourslane is an annual plant, but can persist in wet conditions all year long. It reproduces by seeds that fall to the ground directly under the dehisced capsule; birds are dispersal agents but also the wind and the water. The plant has excellent capacities of multiplies by stem fragments that can produce roots and grow on moist soil.
The pourslane loves particularly the sunny and warm places. It grows in a wide range of temperate and tropical habitats and on various types of grounds, but prefers an open one and a rich moist soil. It is drought-resistant, able to grow well under poor, low-fertility soil conditions. In the tropics the plants may flower all year round.
Some authors said P. oleracea is native of South and West Asia, originating from India to North Africa. Others said that the species is native of Europe but its succulent habit suggest that it is a desert or desert border plant and may have originated in North Africa. Now is widely distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas of the world.
The pourslane is a persistent weed of cultivation; a few plants quickly build up to a heavy infestation if neglected. It is a common weed of corn, wheat, rice and potatoes in India. In the fields of sugar cane, it accompanies only the very young plants because of the necessities in period of sunshine.
- Cultural
P. oleracea can be eradicated in the seedling stage by frequent and continued shallow cultivation or hoeing from the time the first seedlings appear. Plants that have flowered should be removed from the soil and burned or composted, otherwise the fleshy stems will take roots and seeds will mature. Continued cultivation is necessary for complete control of late regrowth.
- Biological
More than 100 insects species have been recorded attacking P. oleracea, most of them from Central and South America and United States. Most of this species are known to be polyphagous. Nevertheless, 14 insects are restricted to P. oleracea or at least to Portulaca genus. In India, Hypurus bertrandi from the Coleoptera family, appear to be adequately specific, as one of the leaf-mining weevils.
- Chemical
P. oleracea can be controlled by pre-emergence application of pendimethalin (1.5-2.0 kg ha-1), post-emergence application of chlorimuron-ethyl (4-6 leaf stage, 10-20 days after seeding), MCPA (0.4 kg ha-1, 25-30 days after seeding), propanil (2 kg ha-1) or Almix (4 g/ha). Mature plants are resistant to paraquat, 2_4-D and diuron.
Habit
The pourslane is a succulent herb with stems that may grow erect or prostrate, very branched from the base, developing mats centred on the main root. It can measure 60cm in diameter.
Roots
Main taproot and adventitious roots which are able to develop from twigs.
Stem
Cylindrical, thick, full and succulent. It is totally hairless.
Leaves
Simple and opposite, sometimes alternate along the stem. They are sub sessile. The lamina is obovate, thick and succulent, long from 3 to 5cm and wide from 2 to 3cm. The summit is rounded to emarginated. The base is eased in a pseudo-petiole, widening near the insertion on the stem. There is a line of short steep silks, placed in the armpit of leaves. Margin entire, smooth and two faces of the leaves are hairless.
Inflorescence
Flowers axillaries and solitary or by small groups at the end of twigs but opening up only one after the other. Flowers are sessile, of yellow color and wide from 3 to 10mm. The calyx with 2 wide sepals, the base welded in the ovary and the top free. The corolla with 5 free petals, bilobed or trilobed in the summit. 6 - 12 stamens. The ovary is surmounted of a style divided into 4 to 6 stigmas ciliate and linear.
Fruit
Capsule dehiscent of spherical shape, surmounted of the base of 2 sepals. It is long from 4 to 8mm and contains numerous seeds.
Seeds
Circular, 0,5mm in diameter with black tegument, marked with circular lines.
Seedling
Cotyledons elongated to elliptic, long from 4 to 8mm and 2mm wide. The summit and the base rounded. The lamina is thick, succulent smooth and hairless on two faces. The lower face is generally tinged of purple.
First leaves opposite, simple, subsessile. The lamina is oblong and succulent. The base is eased in a court petiole. The lower face is tinged of purple. A fringe of brief lashes is present in the armpit of leaves.
- Le Bourgeois T., Jeuffrault E., Grard P., Carrara A. 2001. AdvenRun V.1.0. Les principales mauvaises herbes de La Réunion. CD-ROM. Cirad, SPV. France.
- Holm L. G., Plucknett D. L., Pancho J. V., Herberger J. P. 1991. The world’s worst weeds. Distribution and Biology. East-West Center by the University Press. Hawaii.
- Galinato M., Moody K., Piggin C. M. 1999. Upland rice weeds of South and Southeast Asia. IRRI. Philippines.
- Henty E. E. 1970. Weeds of coffee in the central highlands. Department of Forests. Botany bulletin No. 4. Lae. Papua & New Guinea.
- Waterhouse D. F. 1994. Biological control of weeds: Southeast Asian prospects. ACIAR Monograph No. 26, 302pp.
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