Spicebush thrives around here, so much so that we named a trail after it. We could have named it Mossy Rock Trail, but no. We named it Spicebush Trail.
I love the shrub's smooth, elliptical leaves; pale yellow, early spring flowers; and fall berries. The spicebush swallowtail caterpillar I once saw dining on one of our trailside spicebushes also comes to mind; so after all these years of admiration, how could I not have known? Or did I once know and then forget? After reading today about spicebush's fragrant leaves, flowers, bark and fruit, I slipped on my Bogs and marched right out there to Spicebush Trail to crush some leaves and scratch some bark. Ahh, a delightful, spicy scent, indeed! As the saying goes, "Better late than never."
Along our roadside the other day, I discovered this spicebush and many more like it. The berries, no doubt, contribute to the abundance of fruit-loving birds I often find there; and the more I think about it, the more my list of what I love about spicebush grows.