Read About the Buckthorn Family
BUCKTHORN FAMILY (Rhamnaceae)
New Jersey Tea; Wild Snowball; Red-root
Ceanothus americanus
Flowers--Small, white, on white pedicels, crowded in dense,
oblong, terminal clusters. Calyx white, hemispheric, 5-lobed; 5 petals,
hooded and long-clawed; 5 stamens with long filaments; style short, 3-cleft.
Stems: Shrubby, 1 to 3 ft. high, usually several, from a deep reddish
root. Leaves: Alternate, ovate-oblong, acute at tip, finely
saw-edged, 3-nerved, on short petioles.
Preferred Habitat--Dry, open woods and thickets.
Flowering Season--May-July.
Distribution--Ontario south and west to the Gulf of Mexico.
Light, feathery clusters of white little flowers crowded on the twigs of
this low shrub interested thrifty colonial housewives of Revolutionary days
not at all; the tender, young, rusty, downy leaves were what they sought to
dry as a substitute for imported tea. Doubtless the thought that they were
thereby evading George the Third's tax and brewing patriotism in every
kettleful added a sweetness to the home-made beverage that sugar itself
could not impart. The American troops were glad enough to use New Jersey Tea
throughout the war. A nankeen or cinnamon-colored dye is made from the
reddish root.
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