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One of my favorite wild teas is Spice Bush, Lindera benzoin, a shrub or small tree that is of the laurel family that grows in the Eastern half of the US. The twigs and young leaves make a very nice herb tea with an unusual and very pleasant, spicy flavor. The berries, both green and ripe red, can be used as a cooking and baking spice; and they are somewhat reminiscent of allspice. The plant is very easy to recognize from the leaves, and berries in the fall. But all you have to do is pluck one leaf and crush it to be positive. The beautiful, spicy aroma is unforgettable. I often would crush up a bunch of leaves and rub my face with them because they smelled so good.
Spice bush makes a great ornamental garden shrub, as well as hedges, and attracts butterflies in the spring. When I was in college at SUNY Stony Brook I used to walk into the woods behind my dorm and collect the twigs in the spring and summer to make a fresh tea. But I much preferred it in the fall when I would put aside a huge stash of the twig ends to dry, and gather around half the ripe berries from each bush. During the winter I would use the twigs for herb tea, and the ground berries in cooking, or added to the tea for a little extra oomph
"Wildman" Steve Brill , a wild edible and medicinal foraging teacher who I know from NYC says this about Spice Bush. Every now and then "Wildman" would come to our campus to lead "wild walks." I knew the woods inside out from combing them for all types of wild edibles every day and would show him a few of the locations of interesting plants, but I never showed him my best places since then everyone would know as well. These secret spots of mine I saved to show a few really dedicated members of the Wilderness Club to pass along when I graduated.
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9-19-2008 @4:02AM robin said... Oh my! You're from Long Island, too? I loved reading this, recognizing the berry and the bush and then realizing that you lived in my hometown! We might have even walked by each other at Port Jeff or in Carnival Pizza...
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9-18-2008 @11:27PM teya said... I love this article and just wish the spice bush grew on the west coast, not the east coast.
Do you know if this is sold at herbal stores or if the plant is available from nurseries?
Is there some place you can by the wild twigs and berries to make herbal tea? Also, does "Spice Tea" have any healing qualities?
Thanks a bunch - loved the article
Teya,
http://www.crazyfortea.com
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9-19-2008 @12:36PM JMForester said... Teya- It is almost impossible to find spice bush as a dried tea. I know of one place where you can special order it but it is astronomical in price because they have to actually send someone out to harvest it.
Spice Bush is a zone 4-9 plant and while is native to the East coast, has spread to over 33 states.
If you go to davesgarden.com you can find vendors offering to sell, and members who want to trade. Here's the link and at this time there are 12 vendors selling and 15 members trading spice bush.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/50037/
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9-19-2008 @12:36PM JMForester said... Robin- I am originally from Park Slope Brooklyn, then Westchester County. I spent weekends and vacation on Long Island as a kid, and had several summer rentals as a young adult. I then lived at Stony Brook for fantastic three years, before living in a total of seven states in five regions of the US, then traveled around the world for a time. If you were in Post Jeff, Stony Brook, and Setauket during 1990-93 then we may well have walked by each other.
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10-15-2008 @7:55AM Susie Cook said... How coincidental that I stumbled upon this wonderful blog; I was outside today foraging in my woods here in upstate New York, north of Syracuse and I kept admiring this gorgeous little bush that I just love. I love the way it just sprawls out, nice and free, there are several and they just look beautiful under all the other trees. My bushes also have red berries so it was with great interest that I excitedly ran out to the woods after dinner, grabbed a couple leaves and berries to compare them to your pictures. Exact match...yippee am I happy. Although my leaves are turning a beautiful fall yellow I scrunched it up in my hands to smell the spice and it's wonderful. I squeezed the berries open and there is a black seed inside....please tell me that my find is a spice bush....the leaves match perfectly, including the smell and the berries are identical....do they indeed have a black seed inside???? Thanks for you time you put into your blog.
Be well,
Susie
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10-15-2008 @8:01AM JMForester said... Susie- Yes, the Spice Bush fruit are a glossy red, aromatic, usually in clusters, and have a single large seed. There is no other bush that really looks and smells like Spice Bush. Once you have identified it, you will easily know it for life. The aroma of the leaves and fruit is so fantastic and unique, it can't be confused with anything else.
-JMF-
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10-23-2008 @10:57AM Susie Cook said... Good Morning JMF,
I've positively identified about 5 or 6 spice bushes down in my woods so I'm psyched about that. Do you know of any ways of preserving...i.e...tincturing the leaves? Just thought I'd throw it out there.
Enjoy the day and be well,
Susie
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10-16-2008 @1:12PM JMForester said... Susie- you can just dry the leaves and thin twig ends to use for a tea. Dry the berries with seed and grind or use whole, similar to allpsice.
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