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| ## Spicebush {#spicebush .Title-Header}                               |
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| *Lindera benzoin* (L.) Blume var. *pubescens* (Palmer & Steyermark)   |
| Rehd.                                                                 |
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| Plant Symbol = LIBEP                                                  |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of
North America Program

### ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.2in" height="1.476388888888889in"}

## Alternate Names 

Northern spicebush, benjaminbush

## Uses

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 and other plants in the Laurel Family -- sassafras, redbay,
and camphortree.

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.

Spicebush plants make nicely shaped shrubs with deep green leaves, and
if in at least partial sun, the leaves turn bright yellow in the fall.
It is a good choice for plantings in shady locations but can also grow
in full sun. Moist soil is best. The species is now becoming available
through many commercial nurseries.

## Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

## Description

*General*: Laurel Family (Lauraceae). Native shrubs, mostly growing
1-3(-5) meters tall, sometimes a small tree; reproducing asexually by
root sprouting (most spicebush patches and thickets are probably
clonal). Leaves are thin, deciduous, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on
the lower surface, obovate to oblong or elliptic, 6-14 cm long, pointed
at both ends, entire, on petioles 5-12 mm long, usually largest at the
branch tips, decreasing in size down the branch. Flowers appearing
before the leaves, in clusters on nodes of last year's growth, either
staminate (pollen-producing), with 9 fertile stamens, or pistillate
(with a fertile ovary and 12-18 rudimentary, infertile stamens), both
types with 6 short, yellowish sepals, the female and male on different
plants (the species dioecious). Fruit a short-stalked, ellipsoid,
shiny-red berry 6-10 mm long, with a single seed. The common name refers
to the sweet, spicy fragrance of the stems, leaves, and fruits when
bruised.

*Variation within the species*: *Lindera benzoin* var. *pubescens*
(Palmer & Steyermark) Rehd. is the more southern form of the species,
absent from the northernmost states of the species range, with twigs and
lower leaf surfaces hairy (vs. glabrous in var. *benzoin*). Var.
*benzoin* does not occur in the states directly bordering the Gulf of
Mexico.

Two closely related species (the only other species of the genus in
North America) occur in the southeastern US, where they are rare
throughout their range ---- *Lindera melissifolia* (Walt.) Blume,
pondberry or southern spicebush, and *Lindera subcoriacea* B.E. Wofford,
bog spicebush. Allozyme studies of populations of spicebush and
pondberry show that both species have low levels of genetic diversity.

## Distribution

Spicebush occurs over all of the eastern US, from east Texas, Oklahoma,
and Kansas eastward to the Atlantic states as far north as Maine (and
Ontario), not reported from Wisconsin. For current distribution, please
consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

## Adaptation 

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. Flowering March-April;
fruits maturing August-October (-November).

## Establishment

Seeds are dispersed as animals and birds eat the fruits. Seeds germinate
in the litter layer in the spring or they may remain viable in the seed
bank for many years. Much of the reproduction is clonal through root
sprouting.

## Management

Spicebush successfully grows and reproduces in a wide range range of
light conditions. Although it does grow and reproduce under completely
closed canopy, openings in the canopy increase growth rate. It is
considered difficult to transplant but has few serious disease problems.

## Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

## References

Carter, M. & P. Feeny 1999*. Host-plant chemistry influences oviposition
choice of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly*. J. Chem. Ecol.
25:1999-2009.

Cipollini, M.L. & D.F. Whigham 1994*. Sexual dimorphism and cost of
reproduction in the dioecious shrub Lindera benzoin (Lauraceae)*. Amer.
J. Bot. 81:65-75.

Cipollini, M.L., Wallace-Senft, D.A., & D.F. Whigham 1994*. A model of
patch dynamics, seed dispersal and sex ratio in the dioecious shrub
Lindera benzoin (Lauraceae)*. J. Ecol. 82:621-633.

Godt, M.J.W. & J.L. Hamrick 1996. *Allozyme diversity in the endangered
shrub Lindera melissifolia (Lauraceae) and its widespread congener
Lindera benzoin*. Canad. J. Forest Res. 26:2080-2087.

McCartney, R.D., K. Wurdack, & J. Moore. 1989. *The genus Lindera in
Florida*. Palmetto 9:3-8.

Tucker, A.O., M.J. Maciarello, P.W. Burbage, & G. Sturtz 1994.
*Spicebush (Lindera benzoin (L.) Blume var. benzoin, Lauraceae): A tea,
spice, and medicine*. Econ. Bot. 48:333-336.

Wofford, B.E. 1983. *A new Lindera from North America*. J. Arnold Arbor.
64:325-331.

Wofford, B.E. *Lindera*. Pp. 27-29, IN: *Flora of North America, North
of Mexico*. Vol. 3. Oxford Univ. Press, New York.
\<http://www.fna.org/Libraries/plib/WWW/Magnoliidae/T40007134.html\>

## Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

Formerly BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

## Species Coordinator

### *Gerald Guala*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited: 05dec00 jsp;05feb03ahv; 060802 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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