Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

ROCKPINK

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Phemeranthus calycinus (Engelm. ) Kiger

[=Talinum calycinum Engelm.]

Ellsworth County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 3-16 inches

Family: Portulacaceae - Purslane Family

Flowering Period: May, June

Also Called:

Fameflower, largeflower fameflower.

Stems:

Erect or ascending, simple or branching, 1.2 to 4 inches tall, glabrous, succulent. The short stem is prolonged into a slender flowering stalk.

Leaves:

Alternate or nearly opposite, sessile, entire, circular in cross-section, 1 to 2.8 inches long, to 1/12 inch wide; tip pointed.

Inflorescences:

Cyme, bracted, terminal, much overtopping leaves; flowering stalk slender, to 10 inches long.

Flowers:

Showy; stalks slender; sepals 2, distinct, egg-shaped to nearly circular, 1/6 to 1/3 inch long, to 1/4 inch wide, tips pointed, persistent in fruit; petals 5, broadly egg-shaped, 2/5 to 3/5 inch long, 1/5 to 2/5 inch wide, deep rose-pink or rose-red; stamens 25-45; stigma 3-lobed, head-like.

Fruits:

Capsule rounded, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long, 1/5 inch in diameter; seeds many, flattened, smooth, black.

Habitat:

On or near outcrops; dry rocky or sandy soil.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Comments:

The flowers open in the afternoon or in overcast conditions.

See also Prairie fameflower Phemeranthus parviflorus.

Rockpink stamens and stigma