Ceanothus americanus, New Jersey tea
Coladonato, Milo. 1993. Ceanothus americanus, New Jersey tea. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/ceaame
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| CEAAME | New Jersey tea | Ceanothus americanus | Life Form: Plants/Shrub Kingdom: Plantae Class: Dicot Order: Rhamnales Family: Rhamnaceae Genus: Ceanothus | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name for New Jersey tea is Ceanothus americanus L. [13]. Recognized varieties based on geographic and morphological differences are as follows [4,35]:
- C. a. var. americanus
- C. a. var. pitcheri T. & G.
- C. a. var. intermedius (Pursh) K. Koch.
Synonyms
- Ceanothus ovatus Desf.
Other Common Names
redroot
General Distribution
New Jersey tea has a wide distribution and ranges from Quebec to Florida; west to Texas; and north to Minnesota [23,27,29].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AR CT DE FL GA IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MA MI MN MS MO NE NH NJ NY NC OH OK PA RI SC TN TX VT VA WV WI
- Canada: MB ON PQ
Site Characteristics
New Jersey tea is widespread and can be found on dry open plains and prairie like areas, on sandy or rocky soils in clearings at the edge of woods, on riverbanks or lakeshores, in woodlands, and on hillsides [17,27,36].
Plant Communities
New Jersey tea is a major understory dominant in the jack pine/scrub oak (Pinus banksiana/Quercus spp.) forests in northern Wisconsin [19]. It is also dominant in mesic areas of mixed-grass prairies of the Midwest [18]. Understory associates of New Jersey tea include wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), low sweet blueberry (Vacciniuim angustifolium), Canada blueberry (V. canadense), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), northern bedstraw (Galium boreale), raspberry (Rubus spp.), and rose (Rosa spp.) [19,24,26].
Botanical Description
New Jersey tea is a small- to medium-size shrub from 1.5 to 3.5 feet (0.5-1.0 m) tall with numerous, slender, ascending branches. It has shallow, fibrous root hairs near the surface and thick, burl-like, deep, woody roots. Root crown diameter can be quite large after repeated fires [5,14,23]. The flowers are in small clusters on long axillary peduncles. The fruit is a three-lobed, dry, dehiscent capsule [4,13].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Phanerophyte
Seasonal Development
New Jersey tea flowers from May through July. Its fruit ripens from August to early October [23].
Regeneration Processes
New Jersey tea reproduces from seed and by sprouting. It is propagated from stem or root cuttings [5,23,34].
Successional Status
Facultative Seral Species
New Jersey tea is an early- to mid-seral species [15,21]. It can rapidly colonize disturbed sites where its nitrogen-fixing ability gives it a competitive edge over other species [7]. New Jersey tea declines as successional communities mature [15,21]. New Jersey tea has disappeared from a dry sand prairie in Indiana where it was observed in 1897. Fire exclusion, woody plant invasion, and possibly pollution have altered the structure and species composition in the area [9]. New Jersey tea is found in greatest abundance at high light intensities [25].
Immediate Fire Effects
New Jersey tea is typically top-killed by fire [5].
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
- Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
Fire Adaptations
New Jersey tea is well adapted to fire [1,31]. After being top-killed by fire, it sprouts from rootsocks [5]. Where frequent fires occur it becomes a conspicuous dominant forming clusters among prairie grasses. It also occurs in oak woods of New York where fires have occurred frequently [31]. In black oak woodlands of northwestern Indiana, New Jersey tea was present in 2 areas with slightly different fire regimes. New Jersey tea cover and frequency were greater where low-severity fires occurred at mean intervals of 5.2 years than where more severe fires occurred less often (mean fire return interval=11.1 years) [16]. In northern Minnesota it withstood grass fires better than any other shrub [28].
Plant Response to Fire
New Jersey tea responds positively to fire. DeSelm and Clebsch [8] reported that it showed a net increase in cover in both annual and periodic burn treatments in Tennessee. In oak woodlands of central New York, the average frequency of New Jersey tea was higher on burned than unburned sites (33% vs 17%) [31]. These accidental spring burns killed or severely injured 16 percent of the oak trees present. In an oak savanna in east-central Minnesota, New Jersey tea was classified among the "true prairie shrubs" that tended to increase in percent cover following fire [32].
Fire Regimes
For additional fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name on the Advanced Search page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
No entry.
Federal Status
None
Other Status
New Jersey tea is listed as endangered by the state of Illinois [4].
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
New Jersey tea is browsed by white-tailed deer throughout the growing season. It is preferred browse in the spring and fall in central Pennsylvania (5.0 to 21.8 percent relative utilization) [3]. Deer in the Missouri Ozarks browse the twigs extensively in winter [6].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
No entry.
Cover Value
No entry.
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
Many species of the genus Ceanothus, including New Jersey tea, are well suited for use in rehabilitation because of rapid growth rates and an ability to improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation [11].
Other Uses
The root of New Jersey tea is astringent. An alkaloid from the root has been used for increasing blood coagulability, especially for the prevention of hemorrhage from surgery [35]. The leaves were used as a substitute for imported tea during the American Revolution [4,35].
Other Management Considerations
No entry.
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- RES10 White - red - jack pine
- FRES11 Spruce – fir
- FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
- FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
- FRES14 Oak – pine
- FRES15 Oak – hickory
- FRES18 Maple - beech – birch
- FRES19 Aspen – birch
- FRES39 Prairie
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
No entry.
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K074 Bluestem prairie
- K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
- K081 Oak savanna
- K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
- K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
- K095 Great Lakes pine forest
- K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
- K100 Oak - hickory forest
- K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
- K104 Appalachian oak forest
- K106 Northern hardwoods
- K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
- K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
- K109 Transition between K104 and K106
- K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
- K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
- K112 Southern mixed forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 1 Jack pine
- 5 Balsam fir
- 12 Black spruce
- 14 Northern pin oak
- 15 Red pine
- 17 Pin cherry
- 20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
- 40 Post oak - blackjack oak
- 42 Bur oak
- 43 Bear oak
- 44 Chestnut oak
- 50 Black locust
- 52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
- 55 Northern red oak
- 59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
- 72 Southern scrub oak
- 80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
- 82 Loblolly pine – hardwood
- 83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
- 108 Red maple
- 110 Black oak
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
No entry.
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