Spicebush

Lindera benzoin – same family as cinnamon, bay laurel and sassafras

Small tree, attractive in form and bearing what resembles red coffee beans. Smooth olive green twigs with leaves scented like spicy lemon when crushed.

Attractive yellowish buds, small yellow flowers, red fruits and yellow fall foliage.

The spicebush can be either a shrub or a tree, depending on habit. It attracts spicebush, tiger, and zebra swallowtail butterflies; robins, thrashers, swallows, catbirds, and bobwhites.

Heads Up! The Virginia Living Museum planetarium is CLOSED today for maintenance, but will reopen tomorrow. 

Wild Explorations

Heads Up! The Changing Exhibit Gallery, where our Wild Explorations exhibit lives, will close at 3PM today in preparation for an after hours event!