Calycanthus occidentalis - Western sweetshrub

Western sweetshrub (Calycanthus occidentalis) is a deciduous shrub native to California stream banks, in western North America, its dried aromatic bark used as a cinnamon and allspice substitute — though the whole plant contains the toxic alkaloid calycanthine and only the dried bark is used as a spice.¹

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 6¹
• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Hardiness zone 9¹
• Full sun¹
• Semi-shade¹
• Moist soil¹

Outputs

• Human food¹
• Medicinal use¹
• Dye¹
• Fibre¹

Type

• Shrub
• Deciduous

Functions

• Fire resistance²

Footnotes

1. Calycanthus occidentalis | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

2. Leaf burn times of California native plants, Las Pilitas Nursery, 2005 propane-torch ignition trial, live-leaf ignition time >60 seconds ↩