- Description:
Woody stems are erect and many-branched. Leaves are alternate, oblong and prominently
three-veined. White flowers with five, small, pipe-shaped petals (narrow at the base) are
borne in round clusters at the branch tips.
- Comments:
As the name suggests, the leaves may be used to make a pleasing tea. The three-lobed
fruits form in June and blacken with age. Seeds are eaten by birds. Plants are the larval
host and nectar source for mottled duskywing butterflies. New Jersey Tea does not form
thickets, but dense foliage provides shade, which is important to the survival of young
grassland birds during summer heat. Often called “redroot,” because of the root
color, the roots fix atmospheric nitrogen, which makes it available to adjacent plants.
New Jersey Tea grows on rocky upland slopes and ridges in the eastern two-thirds of
Kansas.
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