Rupertia rigida
Encyclopedia
Rupertia rigida is a species of flowering plant in the legume family
known by the common name Parish's California tea, or Parish's rupertia. It is native to southern California
and Baja California
, where it is an uncommon member of the local mountain flora, growing in chaparral
, woodland, and forest habitat types. It is a bushy perennial herb producing a hairy, woody stem from a thick, purplish caudex
, approaching 75 centimeters in maximum height with slender, leafy branches. The leaves are each made up of three hairy, glandular, lance-shaped leaflets up to 6 or 7 centimeters long. The inflorescence
is a clustered raceme
of several whitish or yellowish pealike flowers. Each flower has a tubular calyx of sepal
s and a corolla spreading to about 1.5 centimeters in width. The fruit is a hairy, gland-speckled, brownish legume around a centimeter long.
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
known by the common name Parish's California tea, or Parish's rupertia. It is native to southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, where it is an uncommon member of the local mountain flora, growing in chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
, woodland, and forest habitat types. It is a bushy perennial herb producing a hairy, woody stem from a thick, purplish caudex
Caudex
A caudex is a form of stem morphology appearing as a thickened, short, perennial stem that is either underground or near ground level . It may be swollen for the purpose of water storage, especially in xerophytes...
, approaching 75 centimeters in maximum height with slender, leafy branches. The leaves are each made up of three hairy, glandular, lance-shaped leaflets up to 6 or 7 centimeters long. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a clustered raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of several whitish or yellowish pealike flowers. Each flower has a tubular calyx of sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and a corolla spreading to about 1.5 centimeters in width. The fruit is a hairy, gland-speckled, brownish legume around a centimeter long.