Other Common Names: Northern Spicebush, Wild Allspice

Scientific Name: Lindera benzoin

Native to Alabama: Yes

Spicebush
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Julie Makin
Click on image to enlarge it

• I am a vascular plant with a woody stems above ground, so I am a shrub.
• I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous.
• I renew my growth each spring for many seasons, so I am perennial.
• I can grow 6 – 12 feet high and 6 – 12 feet wide.

• Dormant in winter.
• Pruning is not necessary, but dead or damaged limbs should be trimmed.
• Can grow in sun or shade, but sunlight promotes thicker growth and more fruits.
• Need a male and a female plant to produce red fruits.
• Good for hedge rows or rain gardens.

• Can propagate with cuttings of young twigs.
• When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds. Water should reach all roots.
• Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves.
• Until established, water two times per week during the summer and once per week during the rest of the year.

• All plants start life as a seed. Seeds contain the new plant (embryo) and the nutrients inside of a protective coat. They must be dispersed (moved to a new location)
• Once a seeed lands in a suitable environment, it will begin to grow to form the cotyledon or sprout. Small roots will begin growing into the soil, and a small leaf is developed.
• The sprout becomes a seedling, developing a stem and leaves above ground.
• As the seedling continues to grow, it will develop into a mature adult plant.
• Mature adult plants are able to produce flowers that can be pollinated. The pollination process leads to the formation of new seeds, and the process continues.

Alabama Plant Atlas