In past articles, we’ve covered serviceberries and dogwoods, both spring-blooming small trees. It’s high time we talk about spicebush (Lindera benzoin), another early-blooming favorite of modest size, well suited to the native garden. (Because of their multi-stemmed habit, they’re considered shrubs, not trees.) There’s so much to like about them, it’ll take several paragraphs to get through it all!
Spicebush for Butterflies
Have you heard of the Spicebush Swallowtail? It’s a beautiful, large butterfly that is black with yellow dots along the edge of the forewing and pale green or blue-green dots along the edge of the hind wing. Like many butterfly species, its larvae can only use a handful of plant species to grow on. Guess what? The spicebush is one of its most important host plants. If you see a spicebush leaf all curled up, there may be a spicebush caterpillar resting and growing inside, waiting to feed under cover of darkness. The message should be pretty obvious: if you want more spicebush butterflies in your yard, plant spicebush!
Spicebush for People
Spicebush isn’t called spicebush for nothing. All parts of the plant above ground (flowers, leaves, twigs, berries) are edible and have a pleasant spicy flavor. People use them for tea or seasoning. Native Americans used them to treat ailments including coughs and fevers. Personally, all I’ve ever done is taste a few berries, but if you do a little googling, you’ll find plenty of information about culinary and medicinal uses.
Another benefit to humans is that spicebush is not much liked by deer. Once you recognize spicebush, you’ll notice that there’s a LOT of it in the understory of woods around here. That’s because our over-populated deer browse out a lot of other understory shrubs, and the spaces fill in with spicebush. So if you’ve got a deer problem, give spicebush a try. (It’s said that if deer get hungry enough, they’ll eat just about anything — and who can blame them? You would, too. But with luck, they’ll be busy eating your neighbor’s non-native plants, and your spicebush will stay off the menu.)
Spicebush for Birds
Of course, the value of spicebush to birds is most important for current purposes. The small, bright red berries are the biggest benefit for birds. They ripen in late summer or early fall. With a high percentage of fat, they are a perfect food to help fuel birds on migration. Birds in the thrush family, including Robins, Wood Thrushes, and Veeries, are fond of them, as are many other fruit-eating birds such as tanagers and Blue Jays.
(Compare to the berries of privet or the Asian honeysuckles, which are non-native invasive plants. Their berries are abundant in fall but low in the nutrients our birds need. You may see birds chowing down on them, but it’s like eating potato chips to prepare for a marathon—not good!)
Considering that spicebush supports spicebush butterfly caterpillars, the spicebush produces another valuable food source for birds! Birds love to snack on those caterpillars, and they are a nutrient-rich food for nestlings. Spicebush flowers also provide an important nectar source for early-emerging pollinator insects, which in turn help support insect-eating birds.
Please Note! Important—spicebush requires separate male and female plants in order to produce berries. So try to get two that have been sexed, or plant several and keep your fingers crossed.
When considering conditions for planting spicebush, think about its lifestyle as a woodland understory plant. It favors part sun and a fairly moist soil. I have one along my alley in average garden soil, though, and it’s doing fine.
Spicebush produces cheery little yellow flowers in early spring. It can be a good substitute for forsythia (which is a non-native with low wildlife value). Don’t expect it to be quite as showy, but the birds and butterflies it brings in will add to the show!
Barbara Malt, President of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society and PA Master Naturalist.
Image Credits:
Karen Campbell, a member of Lehigh Valley Audubon and PA Master Naturalist, provided the images for this article. Follow Karen on IG @kareninnature or visit her website at focusonnatives.com.