Rupertia physodes

California tea

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California tea is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, central western California, southern California coast, San Bernardino Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in woodland habitats at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces small flowers with delicate petals in soft golden or reddish tones. Growing with erect or decumbent stems to half a meter tall, it develops sparse stolons and has a distinctive branching structure. Its leaves feature triangular to lanceolate leaflets 3.5 to 7 centimeters long, with sparse hairs on the upper surface and becoming nearly smooth underneath. The fruit is a distinctive golden-red, depressed-obovate structure with red-brown hairs, creating an attractive seed cluster.

Habitat: Woodland

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CW, SCo, SnBr, PR

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Lake, San Diego, Sonoma, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Orange, Humboldt, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Benito, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Monterey, Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Marin, Solano, Shasta, Mendocino, Trinity, Tehama

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.