BUCKTHORN FAMILY 



RHAMNACEAE 



NEW JERSEY TEA 



Ceanothus americanus L. 



The Buckthorn family consists only of trees and 

 shrubs and is not of great importance. Four species, in- 

 cluding the New Jersey Tea, occur in Illinois and are used 



for ornamental planting. 



This is one of our finest 

 plants to show the associa- 

 tion or partnership called 

 mycorrhiza, between plant 

 roots and fungi. The root 

 tubercles resemble those in 

 the Pulse family but are 

 much larger and much more 

 numerous. 



This species grows 1-3 feet 

 high from a dark red root and 

 makes a very good hedge plant. 

 It grows in dry open woods 

 and on dry or sandy prairies 

 from Maine to Manitoba, south 

 to Florida and Texas. Though 

 found throughout Illinois, it is 

 probably less common in the 

 south. 



The leaves are ovate or 

 ovate-oblong, strongly 3-nerv- 

 ed, toothed and finely hairy, especially beneath, i-i}i inches 

 broad and often slightly heart shaped at the base. They \yere 

 brewed for tea during the American Revolution. 



The flowers are produced in dense oblong clusters in June 

 and July. The elongated peduncles are terminal or axillary and 

 are often leafy. The calyx is top shaped and 5-lobed, with the 

 tips of the lobes curving inward. Both the calyx and pedicel are 

 white like the 5 petals. The latter are hooded and longer than the 

 calyx. There are 5 stamens with long threadlike filaments. 

 The pistil consists of a 3-lobed ovary and a short 3-cleft style. 

 The nearly black fruit is dry, depressed, less than one-eighth 

 inch high, and at maturity it separates into 3 nutlets, each 

 containing i seed. 



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