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• Calycanthus floridus

Calycanthus floridus — eastern sweetshrub

Facts

Eastern sweetshrub, also known as Carolina allspice, is a popular plant for cultivation due to its highly fruity-fragrant, reddish flowers and aromatic leaves, as well as its tolerance of a wide variety of soils. It readily suckers and can escape the garden to naturalize in the wild.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Leaf scar arrangement

  there are two leaf scars per node on the stem or twig

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

  Winter bud scales

  the winter bud is naked (not covered with scales)

• Flowers

  Carpels fused

  the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower appearance

  the flowers appear before the leaves

  Flower petal color

  • brown
  • purple

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower has a hypanthium

  Inflorescence position

  the inflorescences grow on older branches

  Inflorescence type

  the inflorescence has only one flower on it

  Number of pistils

  6 or more

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes only one cycle of petals or sepals

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are fused to form a tube, cup, or bell shape

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble petals in color and texture

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Sepal tip glands

  there are no glands at the tips of the sepal lobes

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are fused to each other (not other flower parts), at least near their bases

  Stamen number

  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13 or more

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  the stamens are not fused to one another

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  NA

  Fruit tissue origin

  the hypanthium of the flower becomes part of the fruit

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  • the fruit is an achene (dry, usually 1-seeded, does not separate or split open at maturity)
  • the fruit is an aggregate (composed of multiple fused ovaries from one flower)

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

  Wings on fruit

  there are no wings on the fruit

• Glands or sap

  Sap color

  the sap is clear and watery

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf has hairs on it
  • the underside of the leaf has no hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)

  Leaf blade base symmetry

  the leaf blade base is symmetrical

  Leaf blade bloom

  • the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom
  • there is a noticeable powdery or waxy bloom on the underside of the leaf

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade flatness

  the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges

  Leaf blade hairs

  the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given

  Leaf blade length

  50–150 mm

  Leaf blade scales

  there are no scales on the leaf blades

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is membranaceous (thin, flexible, almost translucent)

  Leaf blade translucent dots

  there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade

  Leaf blade vein pattern

  the main veins of the leaf blade are pinnate (the secondary veins branch off at intervals from the main central vein) and non-arcuate (not arched towards the leaf tip)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base toward the tip

  Leaf blade width

  20–60 mm

  Leaf duration

  the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

  Leaf form

  the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf midrib glands

  the midrib of the leaf blade lacks glands on the upper surface

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk attachment to leaf

  the petiole attaches at the basal margin of the leaf blade

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf stalk shape

  the leaf stalk is not flattened

  Leaf teeth

  the edge of the leaf blade is entire (has no teeth or lobes)

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaves per node

  there are two leaves per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on the plant, or they fall off as the leaf expands

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant has a pleasantly aromatic odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  • the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
  • the branch is roughly square or rectangular in cross-section, with four sides and four edges

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Lenticels on twigs

  there are clearly lenticels on the twigs

  Twig bloom

  there is no bloom on the twig

  Twig hairs

  • the twigs have few or no hairs on them
  • the twigs have hairs, but the hairs do not have glands

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig scales

  there are no scales on the twig surface

  Twig winter color

  • brown
  • gray
  • purple
  • red

  Wings on branch

  the branch does not have wings on it

  armature on plant

  the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae