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Spicebush is a highly branched, woody shrub that reaches heights of 5-15'. It blooms very early in the spring — March and April in Jackson Park, before most plants have leafed out — so it is one of the few spots of color in a grey landscape. When spicebush blooms, leaves are not yet present; the small clusters of yellow flowers have the stage all to themselves. Some specimens have only a single sex of flower (pistillate or staminate); less commonly, spicebush plants may bear "perfect" flowers with both functional male (stamens) and female (pistils) organs. Individual flowers are about 1/4" across, pastel-yellow, with six yellow, petal-like tepals. Male flowers have nine stamens in three groups of three, each group associated with a two-lipped, yellow nectary; The anthers are bright yellow. Female flowers have an ovary with a single pistil and 6-18 non-functional pseudo-stamens; the stigma is large, bright white, and rough-surfaced. The flowers are said to have "an unusually sweet fragrance." The fruit is a fleshy drupe with a single stone; it turns bright red in the late summer/early fall.

Lindera

Lindera benzoin

spicebush [Blooms: Mar-Apr]