Flora of North America species comparison

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Lindera melissifolia

Lindera benzoin

pondberry, southern spicebush

Benjamin bush, northern spicebush, spicebush
Habit Shrubs or small trees, to 5 m. Young twigs glabrous or sparsely pubescent.
Leaves

blade elliptic to ovate, 8-16 × 3-6 cm, membranous, base rounded to widely cuneate, margins ciliate, apex acute;

surfaces abaxially and adaxially pubescent.

blade obovate, smaller blades generally elliptic, (4-)6-15 × 2-6 cm, membranous, base cuneate, margins ciliate, apex rounded to acuminate on larger leaves;

surfaces abaxially glabrous to densely pubescent, adaxially glabrous except for a few hairs along midrib.
Drupe

nearly globose, ca. 12 mm; fruiting pedicels of previous season persistent on stem, stout, 9-12 mm, apex enlarged.

oblong, ca. 10 mm; fruiting pedicels of previous season not persistent on stem, slender, 3-5 mm, apex not conspicuously enlarged.
Low

shrubs, rarely over 1.5 m. Young twigs pubescent.

2n

= 24.

Lindera melissifolia

Lindera benzoin
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Low woods, depressions, pond and sink margins, Coastal Plain and Mississippi Embayment Stream banks, low woods, margins of wetlands, uplands, especially with exposed limestone
Elevation 0-100 m (0-300 ft) 0-1200 m (0-3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; GA; MO; MS; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WV; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Lindera melissifolia has not been seen in Alabama, Florida, or Louisiana in over a century.

The orthographic variants "melissaefolia" and "melisaefolium" have sometimes been used.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The flowers of Lindera benzoin have an unusually sweet fragrance.

Among the Cherokee, Creek, Iroquois, and Rappahannock tribes, Lindera benzoin was used for various medicinal purposes (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Lauraceae > Lindera Lauraceae > Lindera
Sibling taxa
L. benzoin, L. subcoriacea
L. melissifolia, L. subcoriacea
Synonyms Laurus melissifolia, Benzoin melissifolia Laurus benzoin, Benzoin aestivale, L. benzoin var. pubescens
Name authority (Walter) Blume: Mus. Bot. 1: 324. 1851 (as melissaefolia) (Linnaeus) Blume: Mus. Bot. 1: 324. (1851)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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