// SPECIES PROFILE · SHRUB · NATIVE

Spicebush

Lindera benzoin

Spicebush fills moist woodland understory with chartreuse early-spring flowers, scarlet drupes by fall on female plants, and a citrus-clove aroma when any leaf is crushed. Sole larval host for the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. Twigs were brewed by colonists as a tea-substitute.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Lauraceae
Group: shrub
Native range: E. North America incl. eastern OK ravines
USDA hardiness: Zones 4–9
Mature size: 6–12 ft
Sun: Part to full shade
Water: Moist · woodland
Wildlife value: Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) host plant; thrush food
Ecological role: swallowtail host · aromatic woodland shrub · spice substitute

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) — *Lindera benzoin*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

Why it's on this list: swallowtail host · aromatic woodland shrub · spice substitute. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a shaded woodland understory, spicebush pairs naturally with: american hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), american alumroot (Heuchera americana), inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), american beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), and black cherry (Prunus serotina).

Site spicebush on the woodland edge or in the mid-layer of a guild beneath taller canopy trees.

Spicebush

Field Notes

Companion Planting

Photo Reference