Herb library · Herb · Ceanothus americanus
Red root (New Jersey tea)
The deep-red root of New Jersey tea, a small flowering shrub of eastern North America. Eclectic physicians used it for sore throats, coughs and an enlarged spleen. It has only been studied in the lab, never in people.
Traditional use
King's American Dispensatory records its leaves used as a substitute for tea and the root as the medicinal part, given as an astringent and expectorant for coughs, asthma, bronchitis and dysentery, as a gargle for sore mouth and throat, and in later years for an enlarged spleen, including during the Civil War.
What studies show
No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.
- Insufficient
Sore throat, lymph and spleen: no studies in people were found. Compounds from the plant slowed the growth of mouth bacteria (including a cavity-causing species) in a 1997 lab study, which does not show what the root does in a person.
Be careful of
Cautions
- InteractionA 1958 study looked at blood-clotting substances in the plant. If you take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder, do not use it without your clinician.
- PregnancyNo safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding was found in the sources used here.
- ConditionSwollen lymph nodes or an enlarged spleen need a clinician's evaluation, not an herb.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“Astringent, expectorant, sedative, antispasmodic, and antisyphilitic. It is used in gonorrhœa, dysentery, asthma, chronic bronchitis, whooping-cough, and other pulmonary affections.”
Sources
- Antimicrobial compounds from Ceanothus americanus against oral pathogens (Phytochemistry, 1997) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- An investigation of the blood coagulating principles from Ceanothus americanus (1958) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.