Rose-moss
Portulaca grandiflora
Found in sandy soil or around granitic flatrocks, other disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 3–8 inches
- Spread
- 6 inches–1 foot
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- July to September
Recorded in 3 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
19CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Portulaca
- Aetole bellaBeautiful Sunspur
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Agrotis malefidaRascal Dart, Pale-Sided Cut-Worm, Shagreened Cut-Worm
- Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
- Euptoieta claudiaVariegated Fritillary, (?)Gulf Fritillary
- Feltia repletaReplete Dart
- Hellula rogatalisCabbage Webworm
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Nomophila nearcticaLucerne Moth, American Celery Webworm
Show all 19
- Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
- Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
- Strymon istapaMallow Scrub-Hairstreak, Dotted Hairstreak; Modest Hairstreak, [Columella Hairstreak : former mis-applied name]
- Achyra bifidalis
- Aetole schulzella
- Coleophora texanella
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
7BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Portulaca
- Acanthis flammeaCommon Redpoll
- Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Junco hyemalisDark-eyed Junco
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Portulacaceae
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Yellow, orange, pink, purple, red or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow, orange, pink, purple, red or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “3–8 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “6 inches–1 foot” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Rose moss
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications