Spice Bush

fruitist starts with ...
I am looking for Spice Bush (Lindera glauca) seedlings or seeds. Description of the tree below:

Spice Bush 臭枳柴 (Lindera glauca) – Common names: Greyblack Spicebush, Spice Bush (see Note 3 below), Benjamin Bush. Family Lauraceae. Native to Eastern Asia, mainly in Chinese provinces such as Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi and Taiwan. A deciduous or evergreen woody perennial up to 10ft tall with multiple branches forming its base. It has fragrant foliage and decorative red to black berries. Each berry contains a single seed. Green star-shaped (six sepals and no petals) flowers in Spring appeared before leaves. Leaves alternate, entire or three-lobed depending on species are obovate or elliptic to 5 inches long, bright green turning yellow in the fall. In China’s Fujian Province in the Gu Dian’s Ming Qing district, the local people likes to cook the roots with pig trotters, duck, chicken or cuttlefish pieces as a brew. The resultant black fragrant but bitter soup is supposed to be good for curing tired arching bodies and preventing fatigue. . Shrub gives off strong fragrance. The wood are also used for making incense and joss sticks. Dioecious; both male and female plants are needed to bear fruits. Like acidic soils from pH 4.5 to 6.5. Can grow in most soil types. Propagation by seed in Autumn or by softwood cuttings in Summer......Note 3: In America, it appears in the east coast states from Maine and as far west as Texas. The powdered fruits were used as a substitute for Allspice during the 18th century by American settlers. Hence it is called Spice Bush in the west. The leaves were used for tea. Note 4: Other medicinal uses are the dried fruits which are supposed to cure asthma and slur speech of stroke patients. Fresh fruits are spicy hot and used in cooking meat. Dried leaves for infusion as tea. Hence its most common name is 山胡椒 (mountain pepper) as found in medicinal texts.

Violet_Cactus says...
http://www.mounttomahbotanicgarden.com.au/plant.asp?id=76

fruitist says...
Forgot to say a big thank you to Violet Cactus for telling me the source.

fruitist says...
Hi VC, you will have one if only I can persuade some helpful Sydneysiders to go to this garden to get some cuttings.

The roots smell of Golden Cypress roots.

Hayden says...
Perrys fruit and nut lists this plant.

micarle says...
Fruitist i used to work at Tomah for 10 or more years!!! I will ask, if its there i will get some cuttings taken.. Mitch

fruitist says...
The plant is dioecious. See if Mount Tomah has both male and femaie plants. Thanks Mitch.

micarle says...
Not a prob! i wouldn't mind one aswell so i will get them to take a dozen!!! Leave it with me mate, Violet cactus i will keep u in the loop aswell

fruitist says...
Micarle, this is good to hear. 3 years ago, I spent almost 2 hours walking in circles trying to find Happy Tree (Camptotheca acuminate) as it was wrongly written in location in the SRBG web pages. I finally found it after resting my tired legs in a kiosk and lo and behold the tree was only 12 feet away. Are you also a member of the Friends of the Gardens? They have been very helpful with my inquiries.

micarle says...
Epiphany not such an old thread! And although its been in the back of my mind to prop up this plant/s, i haven't got around to it( new baby ) and me just being Lazy... I'll have to pull my finger out and get it done

micarle says...
Hey Phil i have 2 at home from the friends!!! Yes i can do that for you!!! Next week i am very busy, but i will see if i can grab some seeds and or plants

Linton says...
Its been awhile since there was some talk about the North American Spicebush or the very likeable Lindera Benzoin. For the benefit of those who were previously trying to grow this plant I would like to impart my findings on its propagation thus far. The seeds can take a long time to germinate, sometimes up to a year or more but I found that only seeds that are kept fresh will germinate. They lose their viability quickly once harvested and if allowed to dry out they will never germinate. So you might be waiting for 2 years for them not to sprout like I did. Once I secured some fresh seeds however they all sprouted quite fast as can be seen in the picture.

The Northern Spicebush being very cold hardy, makes a great alternative in temperate climates to the Jamaican All Spice and is a much smaller and manageable bush. It produces red berries the size of an olive which can used as a warm yet refreshing spice with a flavour similar to All Spice. The leaves and berries can be eaten raw or cooked and used as a spice or to make a fragrant tea. The twigs can be ground and sprinkled over icecream.

Thanks for listening!

Pictures - Click to enlarge
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