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NEW JERSEY TEA; WILD SNOWBALL; RED-ROOT
(Ceanothus Americanus) Buckthorn family
Flowers - Small, white, on white pedicels, crowded in dense,
oblong, terminal clusters. Calyx white, hemispheric, 5-lobed;
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 homemade beverage that sugar itself could not
impart.


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