New Jersey tea

not listed

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

not listed

New Jersey tea is a low, slow growing, drought resistant shrub. It occurs in the United States east of the Great Plains and in adjacent Canadian provinces. It is found in prairies, meadows, savannas, and abandoned fields; at forest and woodland openings and edges; and on dunes. It is also cultivated as an ornamental. It grows under full to partial sun, in dry to moderately moist, sandy or rocky soil.

New Jersey tea is a bushy, compact shrub that rises from a large root system that includes a stout taproot. It can be 16″ to 60″ (40 to 150 cm) tall but in Minnesota it is usually no more than 40″ (100 cm) in height.

The stems are erect or curving up from the base (ascending) and much branched. They do not root at the nodes. The bark is grayish-brown. Branches are ascending, flexible, and round in cross section. They are not thorn-tipped. First year branches are green to brownish-green and are densely covered with minute, more or less appressed hairs. Older branches are brown or reddish and minutely hairy, eventually becoming hairless or almost hairless.

The leaves are alternate, 1¼″ to 4″ (30 to 100 mm) long, and ⅝″ to 29⁄16″ (15 to 64 mm) wide. They are on hairy, ⅛″ to ½″ (4 to 13 mm) long stalks (petioles). The leaf blades are herbaceous, not leathery, not resinous, and not aromatic. They are oblong to oblong egg-shaped. They are broadly angled, rounded, or shallowly heart-shaped at the base and angled or slightly tapered to a blunt or sharp point at the tip. There are three main veins arising from the base of the blade, a midvein and a pair of secondary veins that are as prominent and sometimes as long as the midvein. The upper surface is dark green, dull, and usually sparsely to moderately covered with short, cobwebby hairs, rarely hairless. The lower surface is pale green and moderately to densely covered with short hairs, rarely hairless. The margins have 27 to 65 or more rounded to pointed, gland-tipped teeth per side. The leaves will shrivel and discolor in dry conditions but fully recover after a rain.

The inflorescence is a few to several panicle-like, cylinder-shaped to cone-shaped, 13⁄16″ to 5½″ (3 to 14 cm) in diameter clusters of flowers, each one at the end of a short branchlet rising alone from an upper leaf axil of the current year's growth. The stalk (peduncle) of each inflorescence is usually longer than the subtending leaf.

Each flower is about ¼″ wide. There are 5 outer floral leaves (sepals), 5 petals, 5 stamens, and 1 style. The sepals are white, triangular, curved inward, and 1⁄64″ to 1⁄32″ (0.5 to 1.0 mm) long. The petals are white, spoon-shaped, widely spreading, and 1⁄16″ to ⅛″ (1.5 to 2.5 mm) long. The stamens have white stalks (filaments) and usually dark anthers. The style is white and has 3 lobes.

The fruit is a black, capsule-like, unlobed, ⅛″ to ¼″ (4 to 6 mm) wide, modified drupe with 3 stones.

16″ to 60″ (40 to 150 cm)

White

Narrow-leaved New Jersey tea (Ceanothus herbaceus) is a smaller plant, usually no more than 24″ (60 cm) tall in Minnesota. The leaves are smaller and narrow, not broad. The inflorescence is umbel-like, smaller, and terminal. There are no additional umbels in the upper leaf axils. The fruit is 3-lobed.

Dry to moderate moisture. Prairies, meadows, savannas, abandoned fields, forest and woodland openings and edges, and dunes. Full to partial sun. Sandy or rocky soil.

Early July to early August

New Jersey tea is cultivated as an ornamental.

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Relatively common in eastern United States

Three varieties have been described based on leaf shape and hairiness. An analysis published in 1988 showed there is a gradual intergradation of both features across the proposed varieties, making recognition of the varieties unwarranted.

Plant

Inflorescence

Infructescence

Leaf

Location: Fairview Twp, Cass County