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Lindera benzoin
(N) Northern spicebush is a single- or few-stemmed, deciduous shrub, 6-12 ft. tall, with glossy leaves and graceful, slender, light green branches. Leaves alternate on the branchlets, up to 6 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide, upper surface dark green, lower surface lighter in color, obovate, tapering more gradually to the base than to the tip, tip somewhat extended margins without teeth or lobes. Dense clusters of tiny, pale yellow flowers bloom before the leaves from globose buds along the twigs. Flowers occur in umbel-like clusters and are followed by glossy red fruit. Both the fruit and foliage are aromatic. Leaves turn a colorful golden-yellow in fall.
Conditions Comments: Spicebush is a fast-growing shrub, useful in moist, shady places. A small amount of sun yields a bush with better form and more berries. There are no serious disease or insect problems.
Spotted on Oct 17, 2019
Submitted on Oct 17, 2019
4 Comments
Hi Lisa! Beautiful photos! One thing that some rangers noted was that the description seemed copied from another source. We prefer to see personal notes on our spottings with reference links in the link fields if people want to learn more. In the habitat section we like to see the habitat in which you found this particular specimen, so we can track habitat changes that take place and help to make sure the correct habitats are made available for species in decline. I have been loving your photos, and look forward to hearing more about your personal observations on them!
To me it looks more like some Euonymus species. I'm not familiar with North American species. Greetings.
Thats Fun! Thank you so very much, I appreciate being nominated :)
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!