Calycanthus floridus (Sweet shrub)

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Calycanthus floridus L.

Sweet shrub, Carolina allspice, Eastern sweetshrub, sweetshrub

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
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

About plant names...

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.

Edibility: The aromatic bark is sometimes dried and used as a substitute for cinnamon.

Online References:

The Missouri Botanical Garden

Www.uaex.edu

Gnps.org

Atlas.uwa.edu

6/17/2012 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine
≈ 9 × 7" (22 × 18 cm)

6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts
≈ 4½ × 3" (11 × 7.9 cm)

Calycanthus floridus description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

6/17/2012 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine
≈ 11 × 7" (27 × 18 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)

6/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm)

6/17/2012 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine
≈ 7 × 4½" (17 × 11 cm)

Range: Zones 4-9:

About this map...