Calycanthus floridus L.
Sweet shrub, Carolina allspice, Eastern sweetshrub, sweetshrub
Sweetshrub, named for its fragrant flowers, is a North American native found in the eastern United States. It grows in pine or hardwood forests, in ravines, in rocky woods, and along streams. Sweetshrub is long popular as a landscape planting.
Plants: Rounded shrubs 6–9′ (1.8–2.7 m) around.
Leaves: Medium dark green, ovate to elliptical, opposite, with smooth edges. They are aromatic when crushed.
Flowers: Blood red to maroon to reddish brown, with straplike tepals, sometimes very fragrant, 1–2″ (2.5–5 cm) around. (They may also be green or yellow in color.) The fragrance is said by some to have hints of pineapple, strawberry, and banana. Flowers appear from April to July.
Fruits: Fruits are 2–3″ (5–7.6 cm) long, wrinkly, and urn-shaped, fading from green to leathery brown.
Habitats: Deciduous or mixed woodlands, along streams and rivers, and in woodland margins.
Edibility: The aromatic bark is sometimes dried and used as a substitute for cinnamon.
Online References:
6/17/2012 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 9 × 7″ (22 × 18 cm) 
6/27/2026 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 7.9 cm) 
6/17/2012 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) 
6/11/2025 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm) 
6/11/2025 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 15 cm) 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) 
6/27/2026 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 10 cm) 
6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 20 cm) 
6/27/2026 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 2 × 1′ (57 × 38 cm) 
6/17/2012 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
6/11/2025 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Magnoliidae | Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others |
| Order | Laurales | Trees and shrubs, including bay laurels, cinnamon, avocado, sassafras and others |
| Family | Calycanthaceae | Sweetshrub or spicebush family |
| Genus | Calycanthus | From the Greek kalyx, “calyx,” and anthos, “flower,” and referring to the similarity between the sepals and petals |
| Species | floridus | Either (1) free flowering, producing abundant flowers; or (2) bright, florid, ornate |
Calycanthus floridus description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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