Spice Bush. This great native has a range for most of the eastern U. S. up into Canada. It is a dioecious shrub, so there are separate male and female plants. It is a deciduous shrub with an excellent good yellow fall color and reaching to a height of 8-10'. It grows well in full sun to part shade and the brilliant red berries on female plants are a great bird attractant. Its branches are lined in the spring before the leaves emerge with small fragrant yellow flowers. Here we have a plant with many seasons of interest. Even though the males do not produce fruit, their flowers are somewhat more showy than the female ones. The larva (caterpillar) of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly feeds on the leaves of this shrub. We offer unsexed seedlings.
Zones 4-9
