Lindera benzoin, Northern Spicebush 12-18"

- Item #: S15B
- Attractive Flowers:
- Average to moist soil:
- Beneficial Insects:
- Butterflies:
- Edible Fruit:
- Erosion Control:
- FACW- Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands:
- Flood Tolerant:
- Fragrant:
- Herbal / Medicinal Uses:
- High Wildlife Value:
- Loamy Soil- mostly silt, sand, some clay:
- Medicinal Uses:
- Moist Soil:
- Native to Coastal Regions:
- Native To Mountain Regions:
- Native to Piedmont Regions:
- Occasionally wet soil (non tidal):
- Part - Full Shade (less than 4 hours):
- Part Sun - Part Shade :
- Perennial:
- Sandy soil, coarse texture:
- Shrub:
- Small Mammals:
- Songbirds:
- Threatened / Endangered:
- Waterfowl:
An order minimum of 5 of this size/species is required. We regret that quantities less than 5 will not be honored, accepted or processed.
Botanic Name: Lindera benzoin
Common Name: Northern spicebush
Sun Exposure: Part Sun Part Shade Full Shade
Soil moisture: Average Moist Wet
Soil Type: Clay Loamy Sandy
Mature height / spread: 6.5-14'
Flower: Yellow March-May
Fall Color: Gold
Fruit: Red Sept-Oct
Soil Ph: 4.5-6.5
Water depth:
Habitat: Spicebush is primarily an understory species, sometimes
forming thickets, of rich, mesic sites on acidic to basic soils.
Common habitats are low woods, swamp margins, and streamsides.
Notes: Over 20 species of birds, as well as deer, rabbits,
raccoons, and opossums have been recorded as browsing
the leaves or eating the fruits. The fruits are a special favorite
of wood thrushes. The spicebush swallowtail, Papilio troilus (L.), lays its
eggs on spicebush
There apparently are no commercial uses of spicebush,
but the essential oils of leaves, twigs, and fruits have lent
themselves for minor use for tea, and dried fruits have been
used in fragrant sachets. Native Americans used dried fruits
as a spice and the leaves for tea. Extracts have been used for drugs,
including anti-arthritic, diaphoretic, emetic and herbal steam.
The benzoin of drug trade is produced by species of Styrax (Styraceae).
Because of its habitat in rich woods, early land surveyors and
settlers used spicebush as an indicator species for good agricultural land.
Threatened /Endangered: Maine