Lindera benzoin

The more I get to know this plant, the more I love it. It defines understated grace in the garden. Early bloom that is sweet and light, nice clean foliage, good, crisp, yellow fall color, bright red fruit. Light and airy in shade, lush and full in sun. Deer-proof. Pretty darn tough. Can grow in swamps. Can grow in normal garden soil. Not hard to propagate (at leas from seed). Easy to transplant (from containers). Native. There are probably other attributes I have forgotten. Why do only the chosen few know and love this plant?

Scott

Fall color, which can frequently be seen along side cherry red, waxy berries.

Apart from the deer-proof thing, Lindera is also a nature-friendly plant, provinding nectar at a crucial time of the year, fruit in the fall, and leaves which several butterfly and moth species seem to favor.

Scott

This message was edited Oct 9, 2006 8:35 PM

I would love to love it if I could find it. It's been on my "list" but I haven't been able to find it in any nurseries. Based on your description, I am spurred to order it for Spring planting.

D-mail me, Greenjeans. I might have a surprise for you!

Scott

And how fast do they grow? I have 5 (actually 6, 2 were in 1 pot) that are only about a foot tall. How long do I have to wait to see blooms, berries, etc?

Scott, did you say they can be grown from seed? It is definitely on my list also. As a butterfly host plant, among all of it's other good points that you listed. Another question: does this plant require male/female to produce fruit? Actually, one more..it can take full sun? I was looking for a shady spot for it and shade is kind of at a premium in my yard. But I do have a place. I was hoping to put one in next spring.

gram

I googled and found this (mis-) information? "White-tailed deer often eat the leaves and twigs of this plant." Of course nothing is deer-proof here in suburbia, where there are so many deer they are literally starving. Still, I resent having to sacrifice my entire bed of hostas to them. (No, not the new bed, just the "plain" ones I moved under the spruce tree, intermixed with some nice big Halcyons, their second choice.)

Still, I love the yellow fall color of this species! The common name is Spicebush, so I take it the flowers are fragrant?

Thanks for putting this on the radar Scott. If Terry's got it, it must be good. LOL

I've seen spicebush berries in the rumen contents of deer I've either dressed out after a successful hunt or been called upon to do post-mortem exams on at my job.
They are dioecious, so you need both a male and female to get reliable fruit set.
Seems like I recall Guy S. telling me that they'll usually start blooming in about 3 years, from seed.
I've got a yellow-orange(xanthocarpa) fruited specimen growing on my farm - started a potful of seedlings this spring; I'll try to find it tomorrow while I'm out on the farm and take some photos to post, if it fruited this year. Will be glad to collect fruit for anyone who'd be interested in growing out some seedlings.

Lucky,

I based the deer-proof assertion based on a property where I landscape. The place is a veritable deer pasture. Not uncommon to view up to 20 deer at any given time. They eat everything there! The only woody plants that they won't eat are Lindera, pawpaw, and buckeyes. So that's an interesting and notable dichotomy of evidence. I don't really know what to make of it.

Yes, forgot to mention, Lindera is dioescious, so males and females are necessary for fruiting and only females bear fruit.

Lindera seems to grow moderately fast, especially if cared for in a garden setting. I imagine if it is sited in full-sun, it would appreciate occasional irrigation.

Scott

Well, they did grow a whole 6" from last year. I can wait 3 years for them to bloom. 3 were bought and 3 (remember 2 in same pot) were given to me by a fellow DGer.

Squirrels don't seem to bother them either. They do like the buckeyes though :( Another plant I need to cage.

Lucky, if you can manage to collect some fruit, I would be delighted to pay postage for some to try to get some seedlings going. I don't have room for a ton of them, but I expect I could keep some in pots for a few years...long enough to allow for some bloom and to tell the males from the females so I could decide which ones and how many to keep. I'm afraid if I can find plants online or in a nursery, they won't be sexed and I really want the fruit for the wildlife.

we don't have a deer (or squirrel problem here...yet). it's a newer development with very few trees, NO mature trees, and I live smack-dab in the center, so they don't venture out. there's no cover.

edit to add: I had made a note to myself that they sell it at ForestFarm, but I looked it up and they state right there that their plants are unsexed. I'm sure most places the plants they sell are too young to tell.

gram

This message was edited Oct 10, 2006 10:11 AM

Hi Scott! I have finally made it over here. Thirsty for some REAL woody plant discussions and love fests.......

My new property is a mature oak-hickory-red maple-cherry woodland sloping down to a pristine stream bed, with underground springs and swamps of rich black mucks. Our native spicebush is the common understory shrub (followed by maple-leaved viburnum, witchhazels, musclewood, and pagoda and flowering dogwoods, you get the idea -- yes folks, eat your hearts out....). In the spring, it is a chartreuse yellow cloud floating above the skunk cabbage and emerging fern fiddles, and NOW it is a burst of golden yellow all through the woodlands. It fruits sparingly for some reason here (or is it all gobbled up by the birds?), but the fruits are certainly unexpected red jewels when you see them.

If I can remember how to use my camera (have barely taken any garden pics for 2 years...) and remember/learn how to post pictures here (is it hard?), I will have to share some pictures with y'all. In southern Michigan, spicebush is still here and there, but many former habitats are so overrun with invasives, that it is becoming less and less common. In fact, this woods has the most extensive stand of spicebush I have seen around here, ever... (and now it's mine). I think it is one of the loveliest native shrubs. I had one planted in my old garden, but it just doesn't hold a candle to the real McCoy thriving in its native habitat. I am amazed to find that the plants are not only abundant in the wetlands but have spread up into the drier parts of the woodlands as well.

And there are lots of deer, yes, but they seem to ignore the spicebush altogether.

OK, enuf prattle, but I will try to take some pics of this glorious plant.

Welcome to DG, david. Glad to hear the new property is meeting expectations. SB

Ah, so the deer are really after the berries, that makes perfect sense! And explains why the berries are so sparse. Well, after all, that is one of the reasons we all plant berry-bearing bushes (say that three times fast!), for the wild, wild life! :0)

David, you're one lucky guy. Sounds like your own little piece of heaven...No EAB in your neck of the woods?

Oh no, there is plenty of EAB in SE Michigan. In fact, I believe that this was the first point of entry of this pest into the US. It is a widespread problem all around Ann Arbor where I live, and in fact all of SE MI . It is very sad -- in this "Tree City", as it has long been called, because of a very long history of municipal pride in planting street trees, ashes were the most commonly planted street trees, and are also very prevalent in many woodland types here. Virtually all of them are gone now, with many dead skeletons all around, and millions of dollars still to be expended in removal. One can drive down some local streets and see nothing but dead trees on either side. A good lesson in the importance of DIVERSITY in all kinds of plantings, municpal and otherwise.

I am fortunate that in my little piece of heaven, there were very few ashes except in the far reaches of the swamp. I removed one in the woods close to my house, but the others will stay -- if nothing else, homes for woodpeckers and lots of other cavity loving birds.

Now, I head home from work to try to take some spicebush and fall color pics.

well, I am going to try to upload a picture taken this afternoon, Lindera benzoin in full fall color in the swamp

David! It is so good to hear from you. I hope you will enjoy this forum. I sure do. It looks like we were both out photographing Lindera today. Here is my first shot. This "tree" was probably 12-15' tall!

Scott

My second shot is a better picture of the fruit. I've notice in my forays that certain plants tend to be loaded with fruit while many others nearby are sparsely fruited. Who knows why? I have not been fortunate enough to notice from year to year if the same plants are always so fertile or if different ones choose to be fecund every year. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that things such as spring weather during flowering and the amount of sun exposure aren't important elements.

Scott

Hi, Does anyone have any seeds of the spicebush? I would so love to try to grow it for in my garden. Thanks. Sandy

My berries almost get ripe. The birds eat every one of them. Remember you need a male and female tree to get the fruit. The best time to buy is when they are in bloom so you can sex the flowers.

How can you tell from the flowers?

The female flowers have pistils. It has three parts, a style, ovary and stigma, usually you can see stigma. If you don't have good eyes you'll need a glass. The male trees have stamen, which consist of filament and the anther which holds the pollen. An example: the part on a lily where you find the pollen that gets over everything is the anther only on the Lindera the flowers are very tiny and they bloom early. Your other option is to grow they say about 6, usually you'll get at least one that develops fruit.
I've been growing my two trees about eight years now and have had no problem with them spreading. They do send up a few new plants which I promptly cut away. Also, they thrive in moist soil. I have mine in a city yard with only rain when it happens. I think that keeps them from spreading. Smell the foliage and stems it's wonderful.

Hi, Thanks for all the info. I ordered 10 off of ebay. I hope they grow. Thanks again! ~~Sandy~~