Home › Contents › New Jersey Tea. Red-Root

New Jersey Tea. Red-Root

Ceanothus Americanus. Buckthorn Family.

Root.--Dark red. Stem.--Shrubby; one to three feet high. Flowers.--White; small; clustered. Calyx.--White; petal-like; five-lobed; incurved. Corolla.--With five long-clawed hooded petals. Stamens.--Five Pistil.--One, with three stigmas.

This shrubby plant is very common in dry woods. In July its white feathery flower-clusters brighten many a shady nook in an otherwise flowerless neighborhood. During the Revolution its leaves were used as a substitute for tea.