''Lindera benzoin'' (commonly called spicebush,Flora of North America: ''Lindera benzoin''
/ref> common spicebush, northern spicebush, wild allspice, or Benjamin bush) is a

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

in the laurel family. It is native to eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, growing in the

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

in moist, rich woods.

Description

Spicebush is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

growing to tall. It has a colonial nature and often reproduces by root sprouting, forming clumps or thickets. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are alternately arranged on the stem, simple, long and broad, oval or broadest beyond the middle of the leaf. They have a smooth edge with no teeth and are dark green above and paler below. The leaves, along with the stems are very

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive v ...

tic when crushed with a spicy, citrusy smell, hence the common names and the specific epithet '' benzoin.'' In the fall the leaves turn a very bright and showy yellow color. The yellow

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s grow in showy clusters which appear in early spring, before the leaves begin to grow. The flowers have 6

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s and a very sweet odor. The ripe

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a red, ellipsoidal, berrylike

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

, rich in lipids, about long and is eaten by several bird species. It has a "turpentine-like" taste and aromatic scent, and contains a large

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

. Spicebush is dioecious (plants are either male or female), so that both sexes are needed in a garden if one wants drupes with viable seeds. Like other

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

plants, the female plants have a greater cost of reproduction compared to the male plants. In the wild, the population tends to have more males than females possibly due to the heavier reproductive costs on females. The stem of ''L. benzoin'' has a slightly rough, but flat, bark which is covered in small, circular

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the Bark (botany), bark of woody stems and roots of gymnosperms and dicotyledonous flowering plants. It func ...

s which give it a rough texture.

Related or potentially confused species

Other species in the genus ''

Lindera Dried fruits of ''Lindera neesiana'' used as spice (coll. MHNT) ''Lindera'' is a genus of about 80–100''L. melissifolia'', which grows in swamps in the southern US; it is differentiated by its hairy stems. '' Calycanthus'' (sweetshrub, spicebush) is in a different family within the order

Laurales The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales. The order includes about 2500–2800 species from 85 to 90 genera, which comprise seven families of trees and shrubs. Most of the species are tropic ...

and also has aromatic leaves.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to eastern

, ranging from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in the north, and to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and northern

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the center and south. Within its native range it is a relatively common plant where it grows in the

in moist, rich woods, especially those with exposed

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

Cultivation

Spicebush is often cultivated in gardens or edges of gardens. The brightly colored fruits and early flowers along with the spherical growth form make the plant desirable in gardens. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–9 and tolerates shade excellently but will also grow in full sun. When grown in sun the plant tends to grow denser and have more berries and flowers compared to growing in shade or partial shade. It is best to grow the plant from seed as its extensive rootsystem does not handle

transplanting In agriculture and gardening, transplanting or replanting is the technique of moving a plant from one location to another. Most often this takes the form of starting a plant from seed in optimal conditions, such as in a greenhouse or protected n ...

well. At least three

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have been developed although they are rarely available: *'Rubra' has brick red male flowers, the winter buds are also a darker red brown color. Since it is male it produces no fruit. *'Xanthocarpa,' which has yellow-orange fruits, was discovered in Arnold Arboretum in 1967 by Alfred Fordham. *'Green gold' a male, non-fruiting cultivar with larger ornamental flowers. Although several butterflies and moths used spicebush as a host, they are not considered serious pests.

Ecology

Many animals feed on the leaves, twigs, and berries of spicebush. Some mammals include

whitetail deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North, Central and South America. It is the most widely-distributed mainland ungulate ...

Eastern cottontail rabbit The eastern cottontail (''Sylvilagus floridanus'') is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America. Distribution The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shrubby ...

, opossums. Over 20 species of birds including both

gamebird Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are ofte ...

s and song birds such as

ring-necked pheasant The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'' 'pheasant'. The species name ''colchicus'' is Latin for ...

, bobwhite,

ruffed grouse The ruffed grouse (''Bonasa umbellus'') is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only spe ...

and others have been known to feed on spicebush. The berries are a favorite food of wood thrushes.

Lepidopteran host plant

Spicebush is a favorite food plant of two

lepidopterous Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, making it ...

insects: the spicebush swallowtail ('' Papilio troilus)'' and the promethea silkmoth ('' Callosamia promethea)''. It also supports the caterpillars of the cynthia moth,

eastern tiger swallowtail ''Papilio glaucus'', the eastern tiger swallowtail, is a species of butterfly native to eastern North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, ranging north to southern Ontario, Canada, and is common in ma ...

, imperial moth, and the tulip tree beauty. The larvae of the spicebush swallowtail are easily found inside leaves that have been folded over by the application of silk; small larvae are brown, resembling bird droppings, and mature larvae are green. The anterior of a larva has two large eyespots and resembles the head of a snake. Since one or more broods (generations) of spicebush swallowtails typically occur each year, spicebush is a useful plant for the butterfly garden, since the egg-laying females are strongly attracted to it. Promethea moth cocoons, if present, are obvious during the cold season after leaf drop, and resemble dead leaves still hanging from twigs. Neither of these insects is ever-present in sufficient quantities to defoliate a medium through large spicebush, although very small specimens may suffer even from a single caterpillar.

Uses

Due to its habit of growing in rich woods, early land surveyors used spicebush as an indicator of good agricultural land. The leaves, buds, and new growth twigs can be made into a tea. The fruits can be dried, ground, and used as an

allspice Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry of ''Pimenta dioica'', a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm par ...

substitute. Native Americans, including the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, Creek, and

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

used the plant for treatments in multiple ailments.

References

External links

* *
Flora of North America: ''Lindera benzoin''RangeMap:''Research on Lindera benzoin''
{{Authority control benzoin Flora of Ontario Flora of the Eastern United States Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus