Sabuni / Round-Leaved Portulaca
Trianthema portulacastrum
Also known as Horse Purslane
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- July-October
How to identify Sabuni
Identify Sabuni by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Common weedy roadside succulent herb.
- Confirm leaf shape: Round, fleshy.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous.
- Confirm flower colour: Purple.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Solitary.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: July-October.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Trianthema portulacastrum
- Genus
- Trianthema
- Family
- Aizoaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Scrub jungles
- Habitat type
- Scrub
- Distribution
- Pantropical
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Puducherry, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Punjab
- Flowering & fruiting
- July-October
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Round, fleshyrecorded
- Leaf surface
- GlabrousrecordedSmooth, hairless.“It is green to red in color, hairless except for small lines of hairs near the leaves, and fleshy.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sabuni itself; the rest are typical of the Aizoaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- PurplerecordedPurple or violet“The flower lacks petals but has purple, petallike sepals.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Flower arrangement
- SolitaryrecordedA single flower borne alone, not in a cluster.“Solitary flowers occur in .” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit type
- CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“The fruit is a curved, cylindrical capsule emerging from the stem.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sabuni itself; the rest are typical of the Aizoaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Sabuni, Salsabuni, Svetsabuni
- Nepali
- Seto punarnava
- Bengali
- Gadabani, Godabani, Kulphasag
- Tamil
- Sharunnai, Shavalai, Charu velai
- Kannada
- Muchchugoni, Bili komme
- Malayalam
- Talutama, tavilama, വെള്ളത്തഴുതാമ
- Marathi
- Pundhari-ghentuli, वसु
About Sabuni
Round-leaved Portulaca (Trianthema portulacastrum) is a herb in the Aizoaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and 15 other states. It grows in scrub jungles. Flowering and fruiting run from July to October.
Aizoaceae
Carpet-Weed Family
Sabuni belongs to the Aizoaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Aizoaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides