"Did you know?" - Native Spicebush

Spicebush is one of just two woody plants in the laurel family that are native, so far north. With its cousin Sassafras, it can be found as northerly as southern Maine.  Both plants have unusual traits, including leaf density or structure, fragrance, and edible parts, as well as dioecious sexuality, sometimes changing.

Both plants support the larvae of spicebush swallowtail butterfly, along with relative plants that share ancient lineage, all in the “magnoliid” grouped, also sharing characteristics in chemistry from earlier evolution. So, these two in the Laraceae (laurel family) share the ability to host this butterfly with their Magnoliaceae cousins, the sweet bay magnolia, and the tulip tree, as well as with their Aristolochiaceae cousins, the pipevine group. (Magnolias may have been the first plant on earth with a true flower.) Spicebush also hosts larvae of five other important and beautiful butterflies and moths, as do assorted cousin plants in the Magnoliales order.

Twenty native bird species consume spicebush’s colorful red fruit. Dwindling native thrushes such as the veery and wood thrush feed primarily on this fruit. The fruit and early golden flowers are both attractive to our eye too. Spicebush is easy to grow, can live beyond thirty years, is pH adaptable, and can be pruned to fit any opening.