''Calandrinia'' is a large

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s known as purslanes and redmaids. It includes over 100 species of annual and perennial

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

s which bear colorful flowers in shades of red to purple and white. Plants of this genus are native to Australia, western South America, Central America, and western North America. Some species have been introduced to parts of New Zealand, southern Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Description

Species in the genus ''Calandrinia'' are annual or perennial herbaceous plants with a sprawling or erect habit. The leaves are mostly basal and may be either alternate or opposite in arrangement. Flowers are produced in

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

. Each flower produces between four and eleven petals, though often five. Flowers may be white, purple, pink, red, or yellow.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Calandrinia'' was erected in 1823 by German botanist

Carl Sigismund Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the American continents, ...

. It was named for

Jean Louis Calandrini Jean-Louis Calandrini (August 30, 1703 – December 29, 1758) was a Genevan scientist. He was a professor of mathematics and philosophy. He was the author of some studies on the aurora borealis, comets, and the effects of lightning, as well ...

(1703–1758), a Genevan botanist. The genus is classified in the family

Montiaceae Montiaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with about 230 known species, ranging from small herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution. The family Montiaceae was newly adopted in the AP ...

. It was previously placed in the purslane family,

Portulacaceae The Portulacaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising 115 species in a single genus '' Portulaca''. Formerly some 20 genera with about 500 species, were placed there, but it is now restricted to encompass only one genus, the other genera ...

Species

, accepted species in Kew's

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants ...

include:

Uses

'' Calandrinia balonensis'' is recorded in the 1889 book ''The Useful Native Plants of Australia'' as being called "''periculia''" by Indigenous Australians and that the plant was eaten by Europeans with bread while Indigenous Australians used it as a food when mixed with baked bark. "The seed is used for making a kind of bread, after the manner of that of ''Portulaca oleracea''. (Mueller, Fragm., x., 71.)."

References

Caryophyllales genera {{Caryophyllales-stub