Lindera benzoin (Northern Spicebush)

Northern Spicebush, Lindera benzoin is a single- or few-stemmed, deciduous shrub, usually 6-15 ft. tall with glossy leaves and graceful, slender, light green branches. Dense clusters of tiny, pale yellow flowers bloom before the leaves from globose buds along the twigs. Flowers occur in clusters and are followed by glossy red fruit. Both the fruit and foliage are aromatic and smell like allspice. Leaves turn a colorful golden-yellow in fall. Spicebush is dioecious (separate male and female plants), and you need one of each to get berries. Dried spicebush berries were used as an allspice during the Civil War, pack a rich flavor and aroma and still sold as such today. Spicebush berries are a preferred food for migrating birds in the Fall due to having a very high lipid content. It is a host plant for the charmingly strange Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar as well!