LAUREL FAMILY LAURACEAE 
WILD ALLSPICE. SPICE BUSH. FEVER BUSH 
Benzoin aestivale (L.) Nees 
The Laurel family is represented in Illinois by the 
Spice Bushes and Sassafras. The Cinnamon Tree, from 
the bark of which commercial cinnamon is made, and 
the plant from which 
camphor is obtained 
are tropical mem- 
bers of this family. 
The Spice Bush is 
a shrub with smooth 
bark and slender twigs, 
which grows 5-15 feet 
high. It is found from 
Maine to Ontario, 
Michigan and Kansas, 
south to North Caro- 
lina and Tennessee. Its 
bright yellow flowers, 
which appear early in 
spring, and its brilliant 
red fruits, which ripen 
in autumn, are very 
conspicuous and make 
it a desirable shrub for ornamental planting. Twigs and leaves 
when broken or bruised have a spicy odor by which the plant 
may easily be identified. 
The flowers are imperfect and generally dioecious; they 
appear in March and April before the leaves. There is no corolla 
but the 6 sepals are yellow. The pistillate flower has 15-18 
rudimentary stamens of two forms, neither of which produces 
pollen, and a single pistil. The staminate flower has 9 stamens 
in 3 sets of 3, and a rudimentary and functionless pistil at the 
center. Filaments of the 3 inner stamens are lobed and gland 
bearing near the base; the anthers open by lids. The fruits are 
bright red drupes. 
The Downy Fever Bush, Benzoin melissaefolium (Walt.) Nees, 
is found from Missouri and southern Illinois to North Carolina, 
Florida and Alabama. It is similar to the Spice Bush, but twigs, buds 
and lower surfaces of the leaves are densely covered with short hairs. 
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