forest scurfpea

Rupertia physodes

Summary 6

Rupertia physodes is a species of legume known by the common names California tea and forest scurfpea. It is native to western North America. Rupertia physodes is a low bushy perennial with often recumbent branches that may form a dense ground cover. It has deep, woody roots and grows well on the dry edges of woods and prairies where it flowers in late spring and summer when few other nectar sources remain available. It has trifoliate...

Physical description 7

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Plants stoloniferous, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems prostrate, trailing, or mat forming, Stems less than 1 m tall, Plants gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 1, Leaflets 3, Leaves glandular punctate or gland-dotted, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Leaves reduced to phyllodia, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx gibbous, inflated, or spurred, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals ochroleucous, cream colored, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit enclosed in calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit hairy, Fruit 1-seeded, Seeds reniform, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) David Hofmann, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/23326361@N04/2984307779
  2. (c) 2005 Barry Breckling, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=165237&one=T
  3. (c) 1999 California Academy of Sciences, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=18769&one=T
  4. (c) Christian Schwarz, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Christian Schwarz
  5. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda
  6. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupertia_physodes
  7. (c) Dr. David Bogler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/6657549

More Info

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