Shrub · Rhamnaceae
New Jersey tea
Ceanothus americanus
New Jersey tea is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,386 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
New Jersey tea at a glance
- Native in
- 1,386 counties, across 35 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
New Jersey tea is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,386 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,386 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 52 counties
- Arkansas 62 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 29 counties
- Georgia 74 counties
- Illinois 95 counties
- Indiana 57 counties
- Iowa 17 counties
- Kansas 34 counties
- Kentucky 62 counties
- Louisiana 33 counties
- Maine 2 counties
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Michigan 49 counties
- Minnesota 38 counties
- Mississippi 49 counties
- Missouri 99 counties
- Nebraska 7 counties
- New Hampshire 8 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 44 counties
- North Carolina 81 counties
- Ohio 67 counties
- Oklahoma 22 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 42 counties
- Tennessee 57 counties
- Texas 27 counties
- Vermont 6 counties
- Virginia 87 counties
- West Virginia 37 counties
- Wisconsin 46 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 25 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.3 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 14 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Blue
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- Low
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Rhamnaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CEAM
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Ceanothus americanus (PLANTS symbol CEAM).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources