spicebush

American  

[spahys-boosh] / ˈspaɪsˌbʊʃ /

noun

1. Also called spice-wood.  a yellow-flowered, North American shrub, Lindera benzoin, of the laurel family, whose bark and leaves have a spicy odor.

2. a North American shrub, Calycanthus occidentalis, having oblong leaves and fragrant, light-brown flowers.

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spicebush British  

/ ˈspaɪsˌbʊʃ /

noun

1. a North American lauraceous shrub, Lindera benzoin, having yellow flowers and aromatic leaves and bark

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Etymology

Origin of spicebush

An Americanism dating back to 1760–70; spice + bush ¹

Example Sentences

Prospect Park in May is a commotion of beauty: meadows and dense rambles, hills and hollows, everything covered in chokeberries, spicebush, violets, flowering hawthorns, magnolias and lindens.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2021

Related and affected trees include avocado, sassafras, northern spicebush and at least two endangered plants: pondberry and pond spice, Riggins said.

From Washington Times • Jul. 8, 2017

Less well known are plants such as wild ginger, which tastes of spearmint and black pepper; ginseng; sumac; and spicebush, a wild variety of allspice.

From Washington Post • Mar. 28, 2016

This spicebush swallowtail caterpillar is in disguise as something much scarier: Birds pass it up as a snack because to them, these fake-eyed mimics look like snakes or treefrogs.

From National Geographic • Sep. 2, 2015

The sunlight filters through lacy hemlock needles and we stretch out on our backs, chewing the tasty twigs of a spicebush and silently admiring the forest.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George