Ruta chalepensis

Fringed rue

Family: Rutaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Fringed rue is a naturalized perennial found in southern California Coast Ranges, especially near coastal areas, in disturbed places at elevations generally below 500 meters. Flowering from March to August, this plant produces distinctive yellow flowers with fringed, inrolled margins about 6 to 8 millimeters long. Growing with robust stems 40 to 80 centimeters tall, it develops complex 2 to 3-pinnately divided leaves approximately 10 to 20 centimeters long. Its leaves feature intricate segments about 1 to 1.5 centimeters long, narrowly elliptic and entirely smooth-edged. The fruit develops with pointed lobes 7 to 8 millimeters long, containing angular, brownish seeds with distinctive tubercled surfaces.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed places

Bloom period: Mar-Aug

Elevation: generally < 500 m

Bioregions: s CA-FP, esp near coast

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