Braided spice bush from my enclosed native garden in Toronto, Ontario. Lindera benzoin is a native Bush with a sweet-spicy vanilla scent that helps our bodies adapt to changing weather, and our spirits adapt to changing everything.
Sold by the braid, 50-60cm long (@20-24"), and 30-40grams before it's dry
YOU CAN BURN IT AS AN INCENSE! The wand can be burned when dry for saining or smoke cleansing. The benzoic acid found in the twigs and leaves is a well-respected anti-fungal and anti-microbial. Benzoic acid is being investigated for helping with major depression, panic disorders and even schizophrenia!
YOU CAN MAKE TEA FROM THE LEAVES AND TWIGS - THE WHOLE BRAID! A tea can be made from the aromatic leaves and twigs, and the braided wand gives off a subtle scent. Indigenous Peoples make a tea from the bark of Lindera benzoin or spicebush as a “blood purifier” and for sweating, colds, rheumatism and anemia. Settlers used a twig tea to treat colds, fevers, worms, gas and colic and bark tea to expel worms, for typhoid fevers and a diaphoretic for other fevers. The tea has a mild, chai flavour that is pleasant hot or iced, and defies description.
FUN FACT: The Northern spicebush is host to butterfly and moth larvae, especially the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Promethea silkmoth, Spicebush Swallowtail.
Common names: Northern Spicebush
Species details (USDA): USDA LIBEB
Documented uses
22 uses documented
Cherokee Drug, Abortifacient detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Blood Medicine detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Cold Remedy detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Cough Medicine detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Dermatological Aid detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Diaphoretic detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Misc. Disease Remedy detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Pulmonary Aid detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Respiratory Aid detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Drug, Tonic detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Food, Beverage detail... (Perry, Myra Jean, 1975, Food Use of 'Wild' Plants by Cherokee Indians, The University of Tennessee, M.S. Thesis, pages 44)
Cherokee Food, Beverage detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Cherokee Food, Spice detail... (Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey, 1975, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses -- A 400 Year History, Sylva, N.C. Herald Publishing Co., pages 56)
Creek Drug, Analgesic detail... (Taylor, Linda Averill, 1940, Plants Used As Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes, Cambridge, MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University, pages 24)
Creek Drug, Diaphoretic detail... (Taylor, Linda Averill, 1940, Plants Used As Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes, Cambridge, MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University, pages 24)
Creek Drug, Emetic detail... (Taylor, Linda Averill, 1940, Plants Used As Curatives by Certain Southeastern Tribes, Cambridge, MA. Botanical Museum of Harvard University, pages 24)
Iroquois Drug, Cold Remedy detail... (Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, pages 335)
Iroquois Drug, Febrifuge detail... (Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, pages 335)
Iroquois Drug, Misc. Disease Remedy detail... (Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, pages 335)
Iroquois Drug, Panacea detail... (Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, pages 335)
Iroquois Drug, Venereal Aid detail... (Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, pages 334)
Iroquois Drug, Venereal Aid detail... (Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, pages 334)
Photos copyright Tracey TieF / Anarres Natural Health.