Native and naturalized plants
Native and naturalized plants of the Carolinas and Georgia, eastern Tennessee and northern Florida

843
Weakley's Flora ( 4/7/08 ): Lauraceae
Lindera benzoin +

SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS National Database: Lauraceae
Lindera benzoin +

LESS THAN
Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (1968): Lauraceae
084-04-001
Lindera benzoin

Common Name:
Northern Spicebush, Wild Allspice

Shrub
Perennial
Deciduous
Dioecious or Polygamo-dioecious

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC

Look for it in rich alluvial forests, mesic forests on slopes with circumneutral soils, bottomlands, swamps, per Weakley's Flora



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...Wet ...Moist

Leaves:
Simple
Alternate

Flower:
Spring
Yellow
Radially symmetrical
3-merous
Perianth undifferentiated, 6 segments
9 fertile stamens on staminate flowers

Fruit:
Summer/Fall
Red
Drupe

To learn more about this plant, look it up in a good book!
A Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p224
Gardening with Native Plants of the South p083
Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p099
Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee p251
Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p026
Landscaping with Native Trees p255
Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p062
Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p442
Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p092
Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p088
Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p31




Click picture for larger image.

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
Jerry Bright      jeb_linderabenzion


March
McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      jkm0404e_11


April
Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Yellow flowers in dense axillary umbels before the leaves appear, per A Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      jkm090425_017


April
Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve

When crushed, the leaves smell like Lemon Pledge!. — Patrick McMillan

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      s070526_b


May
Polk County NC

Acknowledgments to Patrick McMillan, Clemson University's Herbarium director, for taxonomic review

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      jkm090706_003


July
Mitchell County NC
Hedgerow

Compare this to Sassafras albidum

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      jkm0409e_03


September
Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove

When found on upland slopes, an excellent indicator of base-rich soils, per Weakley's Flora.

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      jkm0409e_04


September
Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove

Fruit is a bright deep red, oblong, and fragrant when crushed, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast.

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      jkm0511d_21


November
Jackson County NC
Roadside

 

image of Lindera benzoin, image of Lindera benzoin +
JK Marlow      s051106_k


November
Jackson County NC
Roadside

 

"When one reaches the mints, whatever trouble existed before seems child's play; here is an order of plants which was apparently created for the express purpose of convincing the amateur that he can never master botany." — F. Schuyler Mathews, Fieldbook of American Wild Flowers