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Calycanthaceae
Carolina Allspice
Calycanthus floridus
Benevolence, sweet memory, ancient mystery.
- Family
- Calycanthaceae
- Genus
- Calycanthus
- Native to
- Southeastern United States
- Bloom season
- Spring, Early-Summer
- Type
- Shrub
- Height
- 1.8–3 m (6–10 ft)
- Sunlight
- Part shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 5–9
- Lifespan
- Long-lived shrub
Did you know
- Carolina allspice has flowers that smell like a mix of strawberries, banana, pineapple, and spice—the fragrance varies wildly from plant to plant, so propagation by cuttings is essential.
- Also called 'sweetshrub' and 'Carolina spicebush,' the entire shrub is fragrant—crush a leaf, twig, or piece of bark and you'll release the warm cinnamon-clove aroma.
- Native peoples and early settlers used the dried bark as a substitute for true cinnamon and allspice—hence the common name, though it's botanically unrelated to either spice.
- The strange dark-red flowers look more like magnolias than typical blooms—they're among the very oldest flower designs on Earth, having evolved before bees existed.
- Allspice flowers are pollinated by sap beetles that crawl inside the warm, fermenting blooms and become temporarily trapped—the petals close around them before reopening to release them carrying pollen.
Color meanings
0
benevolence
1
sweet memory
2
ancient mystery