Sounds like a very small pine seedling.

I've never noticed any half an inch tall, though. By the time I notice them, the "stem" is half an inch, and the needles are another half inch.

Are there pines in your neighborhood? Here we have some white pines. (There are dwarf mugo pines too, but probably not seeding yet.)

Try a Google Images search for pine seedling and concentrate on the ones which have a very short stem with a single tuft of needles atop it.

Hmm we do have some pines nearby, however these are more attached near the base. Argh I wish I could get a picture but it's almost midnight and I just remembered I saw them today. Haha!!

ok don't laugh but I totally tried to draw a picture of my tuft of grass. lol

{{gwi:275983}}

Sorry: no idea what a half-inch version of that would be.

What was the source of the portulaca in the pot?

I sowed seeds that I received from a seed trade

you know what it kinda reminds me of... a very tiny iris plant.

Could be one of a whole host of possible monocots - probably need to wait a bit longer.

Tradescantia are monocots. If it looks like a tiny iris it could be that the seedling is what you sowed. A picture really would help.

I posted pictures on another thread and people told me it looks like nutsedge