Ceanothus americanus
{{short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = New Jersey tea
|image = Ceanothus americanus1.jpg
|status = G5
|status_system = TNC
|genus = Ceanothus
|species = americanus
|authority = L.C. americanus was first described and published in Species Plantarum 1: 195. 1753. {{cite web |url=http://www.ipni.org:80/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=319138-2 |title=Plant Name Details for Ceanothus americanus |quote=Distribution: Virginia, Carolina, United States of America (Northern America). |work=IPNI |accessdate=August 16, 2010}}{{Tropicos|27500209|Ceanothus americanus|L. |access-date=August 16, 2010}}
|synonyms = * C. a. var. pitcheri Torr. & A.Gray
|synonyms_ref = {{FEIS |genus=Ceanothus |species=americanus |type=shrub |last=Coladonato |first=Milo |date=1993 |access-date=August 16, 2010}}{{GRIN | accessdate=August 16, 2010}}C. americanus var. intermedius was published in A Flora of North America, 1(2): 264. 1838.
{{Tropicos|27500210|Ceanothus americanus var. intermedius|(Pursh) Torr. & A.Gray |access-date=August 16, 2010}}C. americanus var. pitcheri was published in A Flora of North America, 1(2): 264. 1838.
{{Tropicos|27500211|Ceanothus americanus var. pitcheri|Torr. & A.Gray |access-date=August 16, 2010}}C. intermedius was published in Flora Americae Septentrionalis. ... 1: 167. 1814.
{{Tropicos|27500910|Ceanothus intermedius|Pursh |access-date=August 16, 2010}} C. ovatus was published in Histoire des Arbres et Arbrisseaux qui peuvent etre cultives en pleine terre sur le sol de la France, 2: 381. 1809. Paris. {{cite web |url=http://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/specimens?id=129564 |title=Botanical Specimen Search Results for Ceanothus ovatus |author=Harvard University Herbaria/Arnold Arboretum |work=Index of Botanical Specimens |publisher=President and Fellows of Harvard College |date=April 7, 2008 |accessdate=August 16, 2010}}
|}}
Ceanothus americanus is a species of Ceanothus shrub native to North America. Common names include New Jersey tea, Jersey tea ceanothus, variations of red root (red-root; redroot), mountain sweet (mountain-sweet; mountainsweet), and wild snowball. New Jersey tea was a name coined during the American Revolution, because its leaves were used as a substitute for imported tea.
Description
Ceanothus americanus is a shrub that lives up to fifteen years{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=77dbkCKaFNgC&dq=%22they+often+live+for+no+longer+than+fifteen+years%22&pg=PA46|title=The Trouble with Plants: Tales of Trivia and Tribulation from an English Garden|author= Ian Shenton|year=2006}} and growing between {{cvt|18 and 42|in|m|round=0.5}} high, having many thin branches. Its root system is thick with fibrous root hairs close to the surface, but with stout, burlish, woody roots that reach deep into the earth—root systems may grow very large in the wild, to compensate after repeated exposures to wildfires. White flowers grow in clumpy inflorescences on lengthy, axillary
peduncles. Fruits are dry, dehiscent, seed capsules.{{additional citation needed|date=April 2024}}
Habitat
Distribution
Ceanothus americanus is found in Canada, in Ontario and Quebec. In the U.S., it is found in Alabama; Arkansas; Connecticut; Delaware; northern and central Florida; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Louisiana; Maine (in Oxford and Penobscot counties); Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Nebraska; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North and South Carolina; Ohio; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; eastern and central Texas; Vermont; West Virginia; Wisconsin; and Virginia.
Ecology
During winter in the Ozarks of Missouri, its twigs are sought as food by the local deer; and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), in particular, will browse C. americanus year round.
The flowers of C. americanus are used as food by (and the shoots host the larvae of) butterflies in the genus Celastrina, including spring azure, and summer azure; and by Erynnis martialis (mottled duskywing){{NPIN|CEAM|Ceanothus americanus |access-date=August 16, 2010}} and Erynnis icelus (dreamy duskywing).
Ceanothus americanus seeds are consumed by wild turkeys and quail.
Constituents and medicinal use
The red roots and root bark of New Jersey tea are used by Native Americans in North America for infections of the upper respiratory tract. The leaves have a fresh scent of wintergreen and were later utilized by the European colonizers as a tea substitute and stimulating caffeine-free beverage. The root bark of the plant is used by herbalists today, and are used notably in remedies for problems of the lymph system. The root contains astringent tannins and a number of peptide alkaloids, including ceanothine A-E, {{chem name|pandamine}}, zizyphine, scutianine, and the adouetines.J.E. Saxton ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=R8BlpSvvSfwC&dq=Ceanothus+americanus+alkaloid&pg=PA444 "The Alkaloids". A special report. Vol I] The Chemical Society Burlington House, London (1971) SBN 85186 257 8 They have a mild hypotensive effect. Root and flower extracts can also be used as dyes.{{PFAF |access-date=April 25, 2013}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline|Ceanothus americanus}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5055704}}
Category:Flora of Eastern Canada
Category:Flora of the Northeastern United States
Category:Flora of the North-Central United States
Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States
Category:Flora of the South-Central United States
Category:Flora of the Appalachian Mountains
Category:Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America)
Category:Plants described in 1753
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine
Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine
Category:Garden plants of North America