Lindera benzoin
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| Lindera benzoin L. |
Lindera benzoin (Common Spicebush, Northern Spicebush or Benjamin Bush) is a flowering plant in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America, ranging from Maine to Ontario in the north, and to Kansas, Texas and northern Florida in the south.
It is a medium-sized deciduous shrub growing to 5 m tall, typically found only in the understory of moist thickets. The leaves are alternate, simple, 6-15 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, oval or obovate and broadest beyond the middle of the leaf. They are very aromatic when crushed, hence the names benzoin. The flowers grow in showy yellow clusters that appear in early spring, before the leaves begin to grow. The fruit is a berrylike red drupe about 1 cm long and is highly prized by birds. It has a peppery taste and scent, and contains a large seed.
One of the world's rarest bee species, the andrenid bee Andrena lauracea, described in 1897 - is known only from two female specimens, both collected on Lindera benzoin in Carlinville, Illinois. Amazingly, the two specimens were collected some 90 years apart, the second being collected in 1985, long after the species was presumed to be extinct.
[edit] Related or potentially confused species
Other species in the Lindera genus also have common names containing the word "spicebush".
Calycanthus (sweetshrub, spicebush) is in a different family within the Laurales.
[edit] External links
- Flora of North America: Lindera benzoin RangeMap:
- Lindera benzoin images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
- Research on Lindera benzoin
