American ceanothus

Images

Click on image to view full size

American ceanothus leaves

American ceanothus

American ceanothus

American ceanothus

American ceanothus inflorescences

American ceanothus

American ceanothus

Morphology

Stem

Shrub

Leaves

Alternate: petioles 1/6 to 1/2 inch; blade 3-veined from near base, oblong to broadly oblong-ovate, 2/5 to 4 inches long, 1/5 to 2.4 inches wide, base broadly wedge-shaped to rounded or nearly cordate, margins serrate to serrulate, tip acute or obtuse, lower surface densely puberulent, upper surface sparsely puberulent, especially along veins.

Inflorescence

Elongate panicles with scattered corymbs, terminal on short axillary shoots of the year; peduncles 1.6 to 4 inches, those of proximal inflorescences longer than subtending leaves, naked or occasionally with 1-2 distal leaf-like bracts.

Flower

Sepals 5, white, incurved between petals, deciduous, 1/50 to 1/25 inch; petals 5, white, 1/16 to 1/10 inch, longer than sepals, long-clawed, spreading, apex not notched; stamens 5, exserted at flowering; style 3-lobed.

Fruit

Drupes black, capsule-like, 1/6 to 1/5 inch, subtended by persistent hypanthium, 3-lobed, each lobe crested; stones usually 3; seeds 1 per stone, reddish brown, smooth, glossy, ca. 1/12 inch.

Ecology

Habitat

Rocky tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies, and woodlands

Distribution

East 1/2 of Kansas

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans used the leaves to make a tea-like beverage and took infusions of the roots for constipation, pulmonary troubles, colds, and stomach troubles. Great Plains tribes used the woody roots as fuel when on buffalo hunts when there was a scarcity of timber. The leaves were used as a tea substitute during the Revolutionary War.

Additional Notes