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Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Guide to Native Plants of Georgia for Wildlife < Ceanothus americanus
New Jersey Tea is an amazing plant with a long history of human use as well as an important ecological function. The Native Americans used the dried leaves as an herbal tea, while early American pioneers used them as a substitute for black tea. The Cherokee held root tea in the mouth for toothaches, and drank hot root tea for digestive problems. Other tribes used the root tea to treat asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough, spleen pain, and as a sedative. The root is astringent due to its tannin content and contains an alkaloid that lowers blood pressure.
Perhaps this plant’s most noticeable impact is to attract a plethora of nectariferous insects throughout its summer bloom time. In addition to feeding adult insects, its foliage also feeds the caterpillars of a huge variety of butterfly species, more so than most other plants. New Jersey Tea, like species of alder or myrtles, can fix nitrogen from the air with the help of bacteria. They therefore play a major role in enriching the soil of forests and allow other non-fixing plants to take up the nitrogen. New Jersey Tea is remarkably adapted to fire. Its seeds shoot propulsively from their capsules, can remain viable for hundreds of years, and germinate more effectively after forest fires.
New Jersey Tea makes an excellent replacement for the non-native Butterfly Bush. It not only attracts a wider diversity of insects to its flowers, but unlike Butterfly Bush, it actually serves as a host to many native insects. It is a premier shrub for butterfly gardens.
Rhamnaceae (Buckthorn)
Low, suckering deciduous shrub. Bark is initially green, but later develops shallow splits and turns brown. Leaves are alternate, simple, 2-4” long, ovate, possess serrated margins, sunken veins, and are pubescent on the undersides. Flowers are white, growing in dense round panicles and appearing in mid to late summer. Fruits are dry rounded capsules with 3 lobes.
2-3 feet tall to 2-3 feet wide
Low, suckering sub-shrub to shrub
Moderate
Full sun to light shade.
Soil should be well-drained and acidic, and may even be rocky without causing problems. Occasional hard pruning in winter combined with adequate sun and proper drainage will keep plants looking their best.
New Jersey Tea is a highly ornamental shrub. Its spherical clusters of blooms are strongly scented like honey, and occur in late summer when many other perennials and trees have finished. It attracts insect life much more readily than many other plants.
New Jersey Tea works wonderfully as a low border or edging, or underneath single-specimen trees where the soil is well-drained and sunlight is adequate. It makes a good specimen but should be allotted room to account for suckering. It is a keystone plant for any native butterfly garden.
New Jersey Tea, along with other Ceanothus species, is among the very best native plants for attracting butterflies and moths to a garden. They are premier nectar plants as well as foliar hosts. The foliage hosts the larvae of the pallid Tiger Swallowtail, Orange-tip Admiral, Western Tortoise Shell, Coppermark, Western and Buckthorn Hairstreaks, Green and Turquoise Hairstreaks, Spring Azure, and Mottled Duskywing. Various butterflies, moths, bees, and beneficial insects like parasitic wasps and hoverflies all feed on the nectar of New Jersey Tea’s honey-scented blooms.
Ceanothus is also a good source of nutrition for deer and other browsers. Porcupines and quail also eat the stems and seeds. The leaves are a good source of protein, while the stems and leaves contain a high amount of calcium.
Native across eastern and central North America from Quebec west to Minnesota, south to Texas, and east to Florida. It favors sandy or rocky soils, woodland edges, and pine barrens.
Propagation of Ceanothus is by soaked, scarified, and stratified seed. Root sprouts and suckers may also be divided and transplanted.
Written by Kevin Tarner, Georgia Wildlife Federation
Photos courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden Plantfinder and the Environmental Protection Agency
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