''Calycanthus occidentalis'', commonly called spice bush or western sweetshrub, is a species of flowering shrub in the family

Calycanthaceae The Calycanthaceae (sweetshrubs or spicebushes) are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales. The family contains three genera and only 10 known species , restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions: * '' Calycanthus'' (thr ...

that is native to California and, according to some sources,

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingto ...

. It grows along streams and moist canyons in the foothills of mountains.

Description

''Calycanthus occidentalis'' is a deciduous shrub that can reach a height of . Its leaves are opposite, and grow to about long and wide. They are more-or-less ovate with acute tips, a rounded base. The flowers appear from late spring to early fall. The flowers do not have distinctive sepals and petals, but have swirls of dark red to burgundy colored petal-like structures called

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, long and wide. The flowers open to about wide. The tepals enclose about 10–15

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s. The flowers are pollinated by beetles of the family

Nitidulidae The sap beetles, also known as Nitidulidae, are a family of beetles. They are small (2–6 mm) ovoid, usually dull-coloured beetles, with knobbed antennae. Some have red or yellow spots or bands. They feed mainly on decaying vegetable matt ...

Distribution and habitat

''Calycanthus occidentalis'' is native to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and, according to some sources,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It grows along streams and on moist canyon slopes at elevations of .

References

Calycanthaceae Flora of California Flora of Washington (state) Plants described in 1839 {{Laurales-stub