Lindera benzoin
- Stout, smooth shrub to 18 feet tall
- Leaves aromatic when crushed
- Leaves don’t droop
- Leaves bright green above, whitish below
- Often there are two different leaf sizes on a twig: smaller leaves at the base, larger leaves toward the tip
- Flowers yellow, fragrant, in clusters of 3–6 along the stem; blooms in spring
- Fruit glossy red, rounded, fleshy, one-seeded, solitary or in small clusters; fruits in September and October.
Size:
Height: to 18 feet, but can easily be kept shorter. Medium growth rate.
Spicebush is an important larval host plant for two gorgeous insects, the promethea silkmoth and the spicebush swallowtail. Each swallowtail larva creates a shelter by folding over the leaf it is eating, securing it closed with silk. Except for very small plants, these caterpillars rarely cause serious damage.
At least 24 species of birds feed on spicebush fruit, including the wood thrush and veery. Rabbits and deer nibble the leaves.