Portulaca grandiflora - Portulaca grandiflora

Japanese: マツバボタン - まつばぼたん

A winter-intolerant annual plant of the Portulacaceae family (APG classification: Portulacaceae). Native to Brazil. The genus name is Portulaca. It is also called Hideri-sou (sunshine plant) because it prefers dry areas. The stems and leaves are succulent rod-shaped and spread out along the ground. It produces beautiful, numerous five-petaled flowers, each about 3 cm in diameter, in red, pink, orange, white, and stripes. There are also double-flowered varieties. The flowers open in the morning and wilt around midday, but bloom in new blooms every day. It has numerous stamens, covered with yellow pollen, which move slightly when touched. This is said to be so that the pollen can be rubbed onto the bodies of visiting insects.

Seeds are sown in April or May, and after repotting once, they are planted in flower beds. They grow well in sunny, dry locations, and are so hardy that once planted, spilled seeds will sprout again the following year.

[Akio Ito February 17, 2021]

Cultural history

In Brazil, where it originates, it is called the flor das onze horas, or 11 o'clock flower, because the flower opens early in the morning and closes around 11 o'clock in extreme heat. In addition, it is known as a unique flowering plant because it has characteristics such as the stamens moving toward the pistil when touched by insects, and the fleshy leaves moving upward along the stem in the evening, a kind of diapause movement. It was relatively late in spreading to the world, and was described and announced in 1829 by the British plant taxonomist WJ Hooker. In the second volume of "Gardening Library" (1903), Maeda Shozan wrote, "Because the portulaca multiplies so well, it is considered a vulgar flower, but the flowers are beautiful and unfortunate," and introduced the story of a feudal lord in the western part of Japan who displayed dozens of pots in his garden when the guard accidentally knocked over the pots and nearly killed them. Akebono said that it was introduced from Holland during the Kanbun era (1661-1673), but this is questionable, and it is believed to have been introduced around the end of the Edo period. In his "Considerations on the Arrival of Plants" (1929), Shirai Mitsutaro states that the purslane described in the "Tempo Do No Chiban Hakuraiso Moku Meisho" (1859) as "one kind of purslane, with cherry blossoms, and three kinds: red, yellow, and purple" is portulaca.

[Hiroshi Yuasa February 17, 2021]

Portulaca grandiflora (single flower)
The stems and leaves are succulent rod-shaped and spread out along the ground. The flower diameter is about 3cm. There are many horticultural varieties, and the flower colors are red, pink, orange, white, etc. Also known as Hiderisou (Sunshine Grass). ©Seishohmaru ">

Portulaca grandiflora (single flower)

Portulaca grandiflora (double-flowered)
The flower diameter is large, 4 to 5 cm. Horticultural varieties are available in red, pink, yellow, and white. ©Seishohmaru ">

Portulaca grandiflora (double-flowered)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

スベリヒユ科（APG分類：スベリヒユ科）の不耐冬性一年草。ブラジル原産。属名はポーチュラカ。また、乾燥地を好むことからヒデリソウ（日照草）ともいう。茎や葉は多肉棒状、地面をはうように広がる。赤、桃、橙(だいだい)、白色、絞りなどで径約3センチメートルの5弁花を多数開き、美しい。八重咲きの品種もある。花は朝開きで、昼ころにはしぼむが、毎日咲きかわる。雄しべは多数あり、黄色の花粉で覆われるが、触れるとかすかな運動をおこす。これは訪花昆虫の体に花粉をこすり付けるためといわれる。

　4～5月に播種(はしゅ)し、一度植え替えたのち、花壇に定植する。日当りのよい、乾きぎみの所でよく育ち、一度つくると、翌年はこぼれ種子から生えてくるほどじょうぶである。

［伊藤秋夫　2021年2月17日］

文化史

原産地のブラジルでは、11時の花flor das onze horasとよばれるが、それはこの花が早朝に開き、猛暑のもとでは11時ころに閉じる性質に由来する。このほか、雄しべに昆虫などが触れると雌しべに向けて運動する性質や、多肉質の葉が夕方から茎に沿って上向する一種の就眠運動などの特色をもち、特異な草花として知られている。世界に広がったのは比較的遅く、1829年イギリスの植物分類学者フッカーW. J. Hookerによって記載・発表された。前田曙山(しょざん)は『園芸文庫』第2巻（1903）で、「マツバボタンは余りよく繁殖するので、卑俗の花とされるが、花は美しく、不遇だ」と述べ、渡来当初は珍しく、西国のある大名が数十鉢を庭前に並べて展示、その鉢を守衛がうっかり倒したのでお手討ちになりかけた話を紹介している。曙山はオランダより寛文(かんぶん)年間（1661～1673）に渡来したといわれているとしたが、これは疑問で、幕末ころに渡来したと推定される。白井光太郎(みつたろう)は『植物渡来考』（1929）のなかで『天保度後蛮舶来草木銘書(てんぽうどのちばんはくらいそうもくめいしょ)』（1859）に「スベリヒユ一種、桜咲きで、本紅、黄、紫の三種あり」と書かれているスベリヒユは、マツバボタンであるとしている。

［湯浅浩史　2021年2月17日］

マツバボタン（一重咲き）

マツバボタン（八重咲き）

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