Hall's California tea facts for kids

Rupertia hallii is a special kind of flowering plant. It belongs to the legume family, which includes plants like peas and beans. People often call it Hall's California tea or Hall's rupertia. This plant is quite rare because it grows naturally in only one small area.

It is found only in California, specifically in a tiny part of the northern Sierra Nevada foothills. This area is right on the border between Butte and Tehama Counties.

About Hall's California Tea

Hall's California tea is a perennial herb. This means it lives for more than two years and does not have a woody stem like a tree. It can grow to be almost a meter tall, which is about three feet. The plant has thin, leafy branches that spread out.

What It Looks Like

The leaves of Rupertia hallii are quite interesting. Each leaf is made up of three smaller leaflets. These leaflets are shaped like a spearhead or an oval. They have a pointed tip and can grow up to 9 centimeters (about 3.5 inches) long.

Flowers and Fruits

The flowers of Hall's California tea grow in a cluster. This cluster is called a raceme. You can see several flowers grouped together. They are usually whitish or yellowish and look a bit like small pea flowers.

Each flower has a cup-like part called a calyx. This calyx is made of sepals and is shaped like a tube. The colorful part of the flower, called the corolla, spreads out to about one centimeter wide.

After the flowers bloom, they produce a fruit. This fruit is a type of legume, just like a pea pod. It is about a centimeter long and has tiny hairs on it. The fruit also has small dots that look like glands.