This section is from the book "Who's Who Among The Wild Flowers", by W. I. Beecroft. Also available from Amazon: A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants.
Ceanothus americanus. Buckthorn Family. May - July.
A shrub 1 - 4 feet high. Found in dry, open woods. Gulf of Mexico to Ontario.
White, small, in dense, oblong, terminal clusters.
Long egg-shaped, finely toothed, conspicuously 3-ribbed. Root reddish.
 
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