common spicebush (TVA, White's Creek Small Wild Area, Plants)

common spicebush

Lindera benzoin

Summary ⁴

Lindera benzoin (wild allspice,spicebush,common spicebush,northern spicebush or Benjamin bush) is a flowering plant in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America, ranging from Maine to Ontario in the north, and to Kansas, Texas and northern Florida in the center and south.

Adaptation ⁵

Spicebush is primarily an understory species, sometimes forming thickets, of rich, mesic sites on acidic to basic soils. Common habitats are low woods, swamp margins, and streamsides. Flowering March-April; fruits maturing August-October (-November).

Barcode data: lindera benzoin ⁶

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Flower visiting insects of spicebush in illinois ⁷

Lindera benzoin (Spicebush)
(information is limited to Andrenid bees; insect activity is unspecified; observations are from Krombein et al.)

Bees (short-tongued)
Andrenidae (Andreninae): Andrena imitatrix imitatrix, Andrena nuda

Faunal associations ⁸

The flowers are cross-pollinated by various insects, particularly small bees and various flies. Insects that eat the foliage of Spicebush include the caterpillars of Papilio troilus (Spicebush Swallowtail), Callosamia promethea (Promethea Moth), and Epimecis hortaria (Tulip Tree Beauty). The grubs of the long-horned beetle, Oberea ruficollis (Sassafras Borer), bore into the branches and roots of this shrub. The fruits are eaten occasionally by some upland gamebirds and several woodland songbirds (see the Bird Table for a listing of these species). These birds help to distribute the seeds to new locations.

Sources and Credits

(c) Cody Hough, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/12512068@N07/2868424984
(c) Tom Potterfield, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/tgpotterfield/17017802408/
(c) Dendroica cerulea, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/dendroica/14322583699/
Adapted by Jonathan (JC) Carpenter from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindera_benzoin
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/1387095
(c) Barcode of Life Data Systems, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/30736295
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/31872720
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29450064

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