Common Name:
NEW JERSEY TEA
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
8
Coefficient of Wetness:
5
Wetness Index:
UPL
Physiognomy:
Nt Shrub
M. Demmon
Dry open sandy plains and prairie-like areas (spreading to roadsides), dry savannas (with oak, aspen, pines); often in openings or transitional areas between lakes or marshes and forests; river banks.
This species blooms much later than C. herbaceus, which will be in young fruit when C. americanus is flowering in any given area and season.
Inflorescences in this species are typically from the uppermost nodes, with a small portion of the shoot or at least a conspicuous hairy bud extending beyond them. Only rarely (perhaps only as an abnormality or in late-season shoots) is there a truly terminal inflorescence, but this is then accompanied by a number of lateral inflorescences, these with long peduncles exceeding the subtending leaves.
With only rare exceptions, the leaf blades are much broader than those of Ceanothus herbaceus. There is also a tendency for the leaves to be more broadly cuneate, or even truncate to subcordate at the base than in C. herbaceus, but this is much more variable and not always definitive.