Domestic Tea
Cenonothus Americanus, New Jersey tea * – called by the country people Yellow Root – grows abundantly in every district in the state. Dry the leaves in the shade and use a little more than of the green tea. I have used this tea for the last two months. It is the best substitute for black tea that I have met with
* photos and more information on this plant also found in NC http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CEAM
Source: Charleston Tri-Weekly Courier, June 26, 1862 as found in John Hammond Moore, ed., The Confederate Housewife (Columbia, SC: Summerhouse Press, 1997).
