portulaca

[pawr-chuh-lak-uh, pohr-]

noun

any of various fleshy-leaved plants of the genus Portulaca, especially P. grandiflora, widely cultivated for its showy, variously colored flowers.

Origin of portulaca

1540–50; < New Latin, genus name, Latin: purslane

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for portulaca

Historical Examples of portulaca

I mean, the portulaca and heliotrope and other old-fashioned plants she dug up for me.
Natalie: A Garden Scout
Lillian Elizabeth Roy
No; what I want is a bed of portulaca, and some cypress vines running up strings to the top of a pole.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 15
Various
The leaves are said to contain malic acid in considerable quantity, and have been eaten as salad, like Portulaca.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7
Various
Pigweed: Portulaca, or the native purslane, a creeping annual of a reddish-green colour and an excellent vegetable.
Journal of Landsborough's Expedition from Carpentaria
William Landsborough
This fact was corroborated by the discovery of irritable stamens in Portulaca and Opuntia, and other genera of cactaceæ.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 623, December 10, 1887
Various

British Dictionary definitions for portulaca

portulaca

noun

any portulacaceous plant of the genus Portulaca, such as rose moss and purslane, of tropical and subtropical America, having yellow, pink, or purple showy flowers

Word Origin for portulaca

C16: from Latin: purslane

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012