| Description | New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) A native American shrub reaching about 3 feet with white flowers. Will grow on dryer sites. Used as a Tea substitute during the American Revolution. |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | Simple, alternate leaves; 2 to 3 inches, ovate, dark green |
| Plant Type | Shrubs Deciduous |
| Hardiness Zone | 4-10 |
| Sunlight | full |
| Moisture | average, dry |
| Soil & Site | medium, medium dry to dry, tolerates: drought, dry soil, shallow-rocky soil, Black Walnut |
| Flowers | fragrant, white (1/8") appear in clusters on long stalks at the stem ends or upper leaf axils in late spring, borne on panicles |
| Fruit | 3 lobed capsules, brown seeds |
| Leaves | simple, alternate, 2 to 3 inches, ovate, dark green, yellow fall |
| Stems | reddish |
| Roots | thick, woody, deep red roots help plant withstand doughty conditions, once established difficult to transplant, "tillers at the base" (#153)," forms a taproot" (#153) |
| Dimensions | 1-3 feet, branching shrub |
| Maintenance | prune in summer after flowering |
| Propagation | seeds |
| Native Site | Maine to southern Quebec and Manitoba and south to Florida west to Texas |
| Misc Facts | Leaves were used as a substitute for tea during the American Revolution. This tea has caffeine. A red dye is made from the roots. Genus name comes from Greek word keanothos relating to some plants in the Buckthorn family. Species refers to from America, North or South. AKA: Wild Snowbell, Redroot, Red Root |
| Author's Notes | #178-Morton Arboretum ( www.mortonarb.org) |
| Notes & Reference | #63-How to recognize Shrubs (William Carey Grimm) , #140-Prairie Plants of the UW Madison Arboretum (Theodore Cochrane, Kandis Elliot, Claudia Lipke) ,#153-Illinois Wild Flower (www.illinoiswildflowers.info), #178-Morton Arboretum ( www.mortonarb.org) |
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