Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

INLAND CEANOTHUS

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Ceanothus herbaceus Raf.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Shrub

Height: Up to 3 feet

Family: Rhamnaceae - Buckthorn Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June

Stems:

Erect or ascending, 1 to several, much-branched; bark grayish brown; new growth densely hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, short-stalked, narrowly elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 1 to 2.5 inches long, 1/4 to 3/4 inch wide, dark green and nearly glabrous above, paler and hairy below, prominently 3-veined; margins toothed; tips blunt to slightly pointed.

Inflorescences:

Panicle-like, rounded, about 4 inches across, open to densely flowered, terminal, on leafy branches of current year's growth.

Flowers:

Small, white; calyces with 5 incurved lobes; petals 5, about 1/16 inch long, spoon-shaped, clawed; stamens 5.

Fruits:

Capsules, less than 1/6 inch wide, 3-lobed, black; seeds 3, oblong, glabrous, brownish.

Habitat:

Open, prairie hillsides, limestone outcrops, partially wooded slopes, and roadsides, on rocky or sandy soils.

Distribution:

East 2/3 of Kansas.

Uses:

Native Americans made medicinal teas from the leaves and roots and also used the roots for fuel when wood was scarce. The leaves of Ceanothus americanus L. were used as a substitute for black tea during the American Revolution and the Civil War.

Comments:

New Jersey tea is drought resistant, with roots that can grow to 15 feet.

See also American ceanothus

Inland ceanothus inflorescence