| Ceanothus herbaceus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rhamnaceae |
| Genus: | Ceanothus |
| Species: | C. herbaceus |
| Binomial name | |
| Ceanothus herbaceus Rafinesque 1808 | |
| Synonyms | |
Ceanothus herbaceus, also known as Jersey tea, is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae and is similar to Ceanothus americanus and Ceanothus sanguineus . It is a perennial shrub which is native to North America. [1]
As for its binomial name, C. herbaceus has several vernacular names: narrow-leaved New Jersey tea, inland ceanothus, inland Jersey tea, prairie root, and smaller redroot. [2]
Ceanothus herbaceus naturally occurs throughout North America. It can be found in Canada from southeastern Manitoba to Quebec. Within the United States, the plant can be found from Montana east to Massachusetts and Virginia. They range south from Rocky Mountains to New Mexico, east to Arkansas and Louisiana. [1]
The Jersey tea is a drought-tolerant species with roots that can develop up to 15 feet. It grows in well-drained soils and in full sun. [3] The basal shoots grows faster following a fire. [1]
It is one of the host plants of the mottled duskywing ( Erynnis martialis ) in its Eastern-North American distribution. [4]
Ceanothus herbaceus is an erect shrub, ranging between 0.5 and 1 meter in height. The shrub is mainly hemispheric in shape with its branches varying from ascending to spreading. The distal branchlets, which grows from the main stem are flexible and have internodes between 12–31 mm long. They are usually smooth in texture and green in color. The bark of the stem is grayish brown, and the stipules, which are outgrowths on either side of the base of a leaf stalk, are thin and deciduous.
The leaves of the shrub are alternate and deciduous. The petiole, which attaches the leaf blade to the stem, is approximately 3–5 mm long. The leaf blades vary between 35–74 mm longitudinally and 10-32 mm laterally and come in a diverse shapes, including wide, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, eventually narrowing to acute to obtuse point at the apex. Three veins arise unevenly just above the leaf base. The leaves are serrated with rounded teeth around the margin; about 37-71 per leaf. The upper surface of the leaf is dull green and nearly glabrous. The lower surface is dull green with long, soft unmatted hair, often drying rusty brown. The shrub has a terminal inflorescence which is approximately 15–30 mm long. It is panicle-like and maintains a hemispheric shape. Holding the inflorescence and providing it support is a long stem, known as peduncle. It is typically 26–48 mm in length, usually with a few reduced leaves near the base. Rachis, which is the main axis of the inflorescence, and peduncles are puberulent to somewhat tomentulose. Pedicel, a stem that attaches single flower the main stem of the inflorescence, is about 5–11 mm long and often glabrous. [1]
The small, white flowers of C. herbaceus in a dense, rounded cluster are about 0.5 to 0.75 inch wide. It has its disk either dull white or greenish. It has calyces with 5 incurved lobes and 5 petals and sepals. The flower is spoon-shaped and clawed, that consists of 5 stamens. The plant bears a fruit that is 3-4.5 mm wide. The fruit is a three-lobed capsule about 3⁄16 inches in diameter that opens at maturity to release seeds. [5] The seeds are usually brown and 2-2.5 mm long, and come in variety of shapes ranging from subglobose to ovoid. The flowering occurs between March and August and fruiting between July and September. [1] The flower attracts insects, which aid in pollination. The fruit attracts birds, including bobwhite quail, that feed on the seeds. It also serves as a host plant to the azure blue butterfly. [6]
The Ojibwe take a decoction of the root as a cough remedy. [7] The Brulé Lakota brew the leaves into a tea. [8] The plant is grown as an ornament, and has a symbiotic relationship with a nitrogen-fixing bacteria. In current day, the properties of the roots, help treat asthma, bronchitis and coughs. The flowers are rich in saponins and can be used to produce soap. [5]
Ceanothus herbaceus is an endangered species in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, and Vermont. [9]
Ceanothus is a genus of about 50–60 species of nitrogen-fixing shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Common names for members of this genus are buckbrush, California lilac, soap bush, or just ceanothus. "Ceonothus" comes from a Greek word meaning "spiny plant", Ancient Greek: κεάνωθος (keanōthos), which was applied by Theophrastus to an Old World plant believed to be Cirsium arvense.
Salvia mellifera is a small, highly aromatic, evergreen shrub of the genus Salvia native to California, and Baja California, Mexico. It is common in the coastal sage scrub of Southern California and northern Baja California. Black sage has a dark appearance, especially during drought.
Luina, commonly called silverback, is a small genus of perennial shrubs in the groundsel tribe within the sunflower family.
The Brulé are one of the seven branches or bands of the Teton (Titonwan) Lakota American Indian people. They are known as Sičháŋǧu Oyáte, or "Burnt Thighs Nation", and so, were called Brûlé by the French. The name may have derived from an incident where they were fleeing through a grass fire on the plains.
Ceanothus integerrimus, known by the common name deer brush, is a species of woody shrub in the family Rhamnaceae, native to the western United States in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington. It grows in montane chaparral and woodlands regions, in hardwood forests, and in fir, spruce, and Ponderosa pine plant communities, being most abundant in the California chaparral and woodlands and Sierra Nevada.
Ceanothus fendleri is a species of flowering shrub native to northern Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas and the northeastern Texas panhandle, Utah, Colorado, eastern Wyoming, and western South Dakota. Its typical habitat is pine forests from 1,500 to 3,000 meters in altitude.
Ceanothus spinosus, with the common names greenbark and redheart, is a species of Ceanothus. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it grows in the scrub and chaparral of the coastal mountain ranges.
Ceanothus confusus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name Rincon Ridge ceanothus. It is endemic to northern California where it grows in the coastal mountains north of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its habitats include coniferous forest, woodland, and chaparral. This is a low, spreading shrub often forming a short mat up to about 1.2 meters wide. The stem is gray-brown with new twigs having a reddish color and fuzzy texture. The evergreen leaves are oppositely arranged. Each is up to 2 centimeters long and oval in shape with 3 to 5 large teeth. The upper surface is shiny green and the underside is paler and feltlike in texture with hairs along the veins. The inflorescence is a small cluster of blue or purple flowers. The fruit is a horned capsule about half a centimeter wide.
Ceanothus cordulatus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common names mountain whitethorn and whitethorn ceanothus. It is native to California and adjacent sections of Oregon, Nevada, and Baja California, where it grows on mountain ridges and other forested areas. This is a spreading shrub growing usually wider than tall and up to about 1.5 meters. The stems are gray, with the twigs yellow-green in color and fuzzy in texture when new. The evergreen leaves are alternately arranged and up to 3 centimeters long. Each is oval in shape with three ribs and generally not toothed. The leaves may be hairy or not. The inflorescence is panicle-shaped, up to about 4 centimeters long. The flowers are white to off-white with five sepals and five petals. The fruit is a rough, ridged capsule up to half a centimeter long. It has three valves inside, each containing a seed. It is a nitrogen-fixing plant, that is uniquely abundant in old-growth forest conditions when compared to similar types of nitrogen-fixing plants. In addition, Ceanothus cordulatus is known to be an important source of nitrogen patches for significantly longer times than other similar post-disturbance successional shrubs, following disturbance events such as forest fires.
Ceanothus lemmonii is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name Lemmon's ceanothus. It is endemic to California, where it grows on the wooded slopes of the Inner North Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada foothills to the west and east, respectively, of the Sacramento Valley.
Ceanothus leucodermis, with the common names chaparral whitethorn or chaparral white thorn, is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. This Ceanothus is an importance browse for several types of ungulate, such as the mule deer and bighorn sheep, who prefer the new growth and shoots to the older, spiny parts.
Ceanothus oliganthus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common name hairy ceanothus or hairy-leaf ceanothus.
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, mountain sweet, 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.
Lomatia ilicifolia, commonly known as holly lomatia or native holly, is a plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a stiff, erect shrub with hairy, rust-coloured new growth and which recovers from fire from a lignotuber. It has dull green, leathery, prickly, holly-like leaves and long sprays of cream flowers, usually after fire.
Erynnis martialis, the mottled duskywing, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in most of the eastern United States and in southern Ontario, and southeastern Manitoba. It is listed as a species of special concern and believed extirpated in the US state of Connecticut.
Petrophile pedunculata, commonly known as conesticks, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It has divided leaves with needle-shaped pinnae and oval heads of sparsely hairy yellow or cream-coloured flowers, the heads on a peduncle 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) long.
Persoonia pungens is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect to spreading or low-lying shrub with densely hairy young branchlets, twisted elliptic to oblong, sharply-pointed leaves, and glabrous, bright yellow flowers borne in groups of up to five.
Hakea stenophylla is a shrub or tree in the family Proteacea, with sweetly scented creamy-white flowers. It is endemic to Western Australia.
Terminalia canescens, commonly known as joolal or winged nut tree, is a tree of the family Combretaceae native to northern parts of Australia.
Leptospermum oreophilum, commonly known as the rock tea tree, is a shrub that is endemic to the Glass House Mountains in southern Queensland. It has firm, rough bark on the older stems, elliptical leaves with a short, blunt point on the tip, relatively large white flowers arranged singly on side shoots and fruit that remains on the plant until it dies.