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Common Name: New Jersey Tea or Red Root
Scientific Name: Ceanothus americanus
Family: Rhamnaceae
Serendipity Ranch
Columbus, North Carolina
June 4, 2002
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A low bushy shrub 1 - 3 feet tall with terminal clusters of numerous small flowers. The leaves, which at one time were dried and used as a tea substitute, are alternate, mostly 2 - 3 inches long, and pubescent to pilose beneath. These shrubs are relatively frequent in open woodlands, on forest margins, and along roadsides throughout our state and much of the eastern U.S. May - June [Justice, William S. and Bell, C. Ritchie, Wild Flowers of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1968]
New Jersey tea is a low-growing shrub with tiny white flowers that rise to oval clusters from the leaf axils of the current year's shoots. Each flower is about 1/5 inch across, with five white petals and five protruding stamens. The clusters measure about 1/2 inch across and about 1 inch long. The leaves are 1 to 3 inches long, three-veined, toothed, ovate, and sharp pointed. The dried leaves of this nitrogen-fixing plant make an excellent tea that was very popular among the early settlers. The brew was especially favored during the period of the Revolutionary War. New Jersey tea grows in open woods and clearings and along roadsides. June - September [Alderman, J. Anthony, Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1997]
Although early settlers used the leaves as a substitute for tea, thereby giving its common name, this is not a member of the tea family. The low-growing shrub, also knows as Red Root, reaches a height of 2 1/2 or 3 feet. It grows abundantly at the lower elevations of the Smokies, and may be found along the road to Cades Cove. The dense clusters of flowers may be seen from May to August [Campbell, Carlos C., Hutson, William F., Sharp, Aaron J., Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers, Fourth Edition. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1977]
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Alphabetical Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Family Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Genus Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z