The " Under The Radar " Moss Rose

[Silas_Sancona]

Most people are probably very familiar with a common ..and edible.. weed that often pops up in the yard during the hot summer months.  Other folks probably know a showy, summer flowering annual that was quite a popular bedding plant option, and may still be.. With their rose like flowers, and Ice Plant - esque foliage, " Moss Rose ", an annual Portulaca species from South America is one of the tougher, showy things that can be planted as a sort of ground cover, or in a hanging basket. Unfortunately, as mentioned, it, like many species of Purslane are summer annuals..

Here in the upper portions of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, parts of neighboring New Mexico, and in various parts of Sonora and Chihuahua Mexico,  we have a Moss Rose look alike that bucks the " mainly annual " trend and appears along gravely places and roadsides during the summer Monsoon.

Unlike all the annual species, " Shrubby " Purslane, or, Portulaca suffrutescens  is a perennial that regrows from thickened stems when the heat is on, and the rains arrive.  Looks exactly like it's annual sister, but only comes in one color when it flowers ..a bright, but darker burnt Orange.  The " shrubby " portion of the common name is a bit misleading since most specimens rarely reach any taller than about a foot.. Majority are smaller ..in the 3-5" height range, though they will spread out to about a foot in width.

I had been hoping to track down this plant both to observe / document in habitat and also hopefully collect seed to trial for the last couple years.. Had come across patches of it in a burnt out section of Oak Flat last Fall but the plants were long past flowering and setting seed.  Back out there today for a Monsoon season check in,  found plenty of it growing along trails taken, and many of the sandy / gravely " low- flow " streams that cut across various areas above the camp ground out there. I'll be back out there later to try and collect some seed to play with.

Was cloudy when i arrived this morning, and wasn't sure if i'd catch any with open flowers. Luckily, -for the plants at least, lol,  sun came out as i was heading back to the car and found a few patches of the plant with fully open flowers not far from where the trail starts near the camp ground.

While the flowers might be a bit smaller than those on annual Moss Rose, i'm a little surprised someone hasn't played around w/ this plant... seeing what would  come of trying to cross it w/ it's annual sister.  Seems like it would be an easy, care-free, warm- season ground cover option for low care or natural garden settings.. Even if one had to start with seeds, < they're like dust btw >,  After a couple years, plants would sustain themselves / spread around more.

Anyway, some pictures.. Nice to add this to the list of observed, interesting desert natives..

Young plant.. Honestly not much to look at by itself. ( Unless you're a die hard plant nerd, haha )



Un-opened flowers, desiccated flower, and immature seed capsule.



Opened flowers









Common, ground covering growth habit..





A taller specimen nearby..