Ceanothus americanus is a shrub that grows abundantly throughout the mountain regions of the eastern part of the United States, and is found particularly in dry and barren woodlands. It is also known as Jersey tea, New Jersey tea, redshank, redroot, Walpole tea and wild snowball.
HISTORY
The use of preparations of this plant for the purpose of checking hemorrhage is far from being new. Almost a century ago, in 1836, Hubbard1 reported that "a strong decoction of the bark of the root or the fresh root itself is a valuable styptic for restraining hemorrhage from wounds." The drug in this instance was applied locally, and its action was believed to be astringent and in all probability due to the tannin present.
The first mention in the literature of its administration internally for the purpose of checking hemorrhage occurred forty-three years later, in 1879, when Hammond2 reported the