Talinum fruticosum

Talinum fruticosum (L.) Juss.

Synonym: Talinum triangulare

Family: Portulacaceae

Habit: Talinum fruticosum grows as a succulent annual or perennial up to 1 m in height (usually shorter). The slightly succulent leaves are arranged alternately, oblanceolate to obovate, to 6 cm in length, with an entire margin, a rounded, retuse, or apiculate leaf apex.

The complete, perfect, actinomorphic, sessile flowers are arranged in cymes or racemes that are triangular in outline. The calyx has 2 unfused sepals.  The corolla has 5 unfused pink or white petals.  There are numerous stamens. The carpel has a superior ovary with a single locule and many seeds.  The fruit is a capsule at maturity.

Habitat: Talinum fruticosum grows in Dry Broadleaf Evergreen Formations- Shrublands (coppice), and Human Altered environments (old fields, yards, roadsides, nurseries).

Distribution: Talinum fruticosum occurs throughout the island groupings of the Lucayan Archipelago, the Caribbean, Florida, Mexico, Central and South America.  It now also occurs in Africa and parts of Asia.

Medicinal/Cultural/Economic usage: Talinum fruticosum has been used to treat eye issues in the Lucayan Archipelago.