16 seeds for $8 including shipping to most of the continental u.s. - for shipping to elsewhere, contact me and we’ll figure it out. if you’re interested in other things i sell, shipping can be combined.
spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is a shrub in the laurel family, native to most of the eastern U.S…the small yellow-green sweet-smelling flowers, bright red berries, and yellow fall foliage make it a point of interest in gardens.
medicinal tea can be made from the leaves and twigs, and the berries can be used as a spice - i will be offering dried spicebush berries for culinary use elsewhere on this site. it’s also the primary food source for the spice swallowtail butterfly (Papilio troilus) there are many mentions on these forums of the uses and usefulness of this plant.
fresh, never dried seed from this year’s berries germinates best (with some stratification). seeds will come packed in moist medium in a small ziplock bag, ready for outdoor or refrigerator stratification.
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pardon the poke berries, this picture taken deep in the spice ‘bush’!
i’m sorry but i don’t! the window for fresh seed is generally from late august through a chunk of september if you’d like to remind me next year. i have seed for carolina allspice, Calycanthus floridus, but that’s not nearly as versatile in the kitchen.
Eino Kenttä
gardener
Posts: 707
Location: Semi-nomadic, main place coastal mid-Norway, latitude 64 north
greg mosser wrote:hi eino!
i have seed for carolina allspice, Calycanthus floridus, but that’s not nearly as versatile in the kitchen.
Hi Greg, I was reading about Carolina Allspice being used as a cinnamon substitute. Have you tried it's bark for that application and, if so, what do you think?
greg mosser
gardener
Posts: 1813
Location: the mountains of katuah, southern appalachia
i have. it isn’t really that cinnamon-like. it’s got a different sweet spicy thing going on that i do like, though. it’s like how spicebush doesn’t taste like allspice but but kinda a flavor in the same family. also a bit labor-intensive. i assume that the parallel that people draw between cinnamon and carolina allspice is based more on usage - because you use the inner bark - than any actual taste correlation.
best use so i’ve so far is in the mixed-twig tea that i make in the winter. mostly sassafras and spicebush twigs with a little bit of sweet birch, and then calycanthus inner bark.
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