Lythrum portula
Common names
water purslane
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Simplified description
Creeping mat-forming herb, with pinkish paired round leaves along horizontal creeping stems, rooting where leaf bearing stems touch the soil, flowers inconspicuous at the base of leaf pairs up to 2.5 cm across.
Flower colours
Green, Red/Pink
Detailed description
Glabrous annual; stems creeping, pinkish, rooting at nodes, often mat-forming. Lvs opposite, shortly petiolate. Lamina 3-12 × 2-8 mm, obovate or suborbicular, entire, somewhat succulent; base attenuate; apex rounded. Fls solitary, ± subsessile, monomorphic. Bracteoles > pedicel. Calyx 1.2-1.5 mm long; tube broad-campanulate; teeth membranous and pinkish except for green margins and mid-vein, acuminate with dark apex; epicalyx segments subulate, green or pink, = or > calyx teeth. Petals 0 (possibly sometimes minute). Stamens 6, always included. Style always very short. Capsule included, c. 2 mm diam., subglobose, membranous, often pinkish. Seed 0.5-0.6 mm long, flat on one face, convex on the other.
Similar taxa
Unlike other mat forming plants of exposed mud.
Distribution
Scattered from Waikato, Rotorua Lakes, Westland, Otago and Southland.
Habitat
On bare mud on the margins of water bodies.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
Summer
Fruiting
Autumn
Year naturalised
1899
Origin
Europe and Western Asia
Reason for introduction
Unknown, seed or soil contaminant.
Control techniques
Not controlled in New Zealand.
Life cycle and dispersal
Seed dispersed by water, animals or contaminated machinery.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
OBL: Obligate Wetland
Almost always is a hydrophyte, rarely in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
LYTPOR
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. (1988). Flora of New Zealand Volume 4: Naturalisedpteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch.
Popay et al (2010). An illustrated guide to common weeds of New Zealand, third edition. NZ Plant Protection Society Inc, 416pp.
Johnson PN, Brooke PA (1989). Wetland plants in New Zealand. DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington. 319pp.
Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G.; Warburg, E.F. (1962). Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, Second Edition. 1269pp.
Attribution
Factsheet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA). Features description Webb et al. (1988).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.