Yaupon is the only endemic caffeinated plant in the United States that luckily grows prolifically in the harsh Outer Banks environment. Popularized by Native Americans, the black tea became popular during the Civil War when ports were blockaded and the transport of English tea was impossible. “One lot of yaupon tea” was listed in Adam Dough Etheridge’s estate sale in 1869, illustrating the continued value and use of the plant, even after the Civil War.