Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Magnoliids: Laurales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Calycanthus floridus
FAMILY
Calycanthaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Calycanthus from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
In the wild, its form tends to be tall, open, and sparse, and in the garden, it is usually shorter, with dense sprawling branches. Read more at Tree Talk, from University of Kentucky and Lexington community "tree-people".
Two varieties have traditionally been recognized, var. floridus with pubescent twigs, petioles, and leaf undersurfaces, and var. glaucus with glabrous (or sparsely pubescent) twigs, petioles, and leaf undersurfaces. They have broadly overlapping distributions and variable characters and seem best considered as taxonomically uninformative variation... C. brockianus (of n. GA) has been controversial, alleged to differ in pale yellowish-green tepals (vs. reddish-brown tepals) and seeds with short, curved hairs (vs. long, straighter hairs). Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023).
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus
FAMILY
Calycanthaceae
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Calycanthus brockianus
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Calycanthus floridus
INCLUDING (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Calycanthus brockiana
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus
INCLUDING Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus
INCLUDING Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Calycanthus floridus var. laevigatus
INCLUDING VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 083-01-001b:
Calycanthus floridus var. laevigatus FAMILY Calycanthaceae
INCLUDING Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968)
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus fertilis
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus floridus
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus mohrii
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus nanus
COMMON NAME:
Sweetshrub, Carolina Allspice, Strawberry-shrub
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cafe5_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm240312_7737
March Greenville County SC
The dark brown twigs have swollen nodes, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
Ron Lance rwl_calycanthus_floridus
March Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm0504q_24
April Pickens County SC
Table Rock State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm070421_025
April Greenville County SC
Camp Spearhead
Fruit an ovoid leathery pendant capsule (woodland rodents mine its seeds), per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).
)
JK Marlow jkm120415_026
April Pickens County SC
Clemson Forest
Perianth undifferentiated, segments maroon, often with lighter tips, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120424_634
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm160423_477
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm240418_8665
April Greenville County SC
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_floridus_03188
April Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_floridus_rw_42205_2
April
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_floridus_sweetshrub
April
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk236_a
April-May
Flowers somewhat urn-shaped and solitary on short leafy branches, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Gill Newberry gn05_c_floridus_fruits
May
)
JK Marlow jkm0405b_10
May Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, margins entire, acuminate, petiolate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0405h_22
May Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Georgia Sweetshrub (C. brockianus) has yellowish-green flowers and may be only a color variation, per Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016).
)
JK Marlow jkm140517_816
May Transylvania County NC
)
Ron Lance rwl_cfloridus
May Rutherford County NC
The flowers are 1" or more broad and have a spicy fragrance, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
Ron Lance rwl236_a
May
The nectarless flowers have a strong fruity odor that attracts small beetles, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm140614_882
June Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
Stem sparsely branched. Leaves opposite, oval to elliptic w tapering tips, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160727_387
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Fruit green in summer turning dark brown to black over winter, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm0310h_01
October Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Georgia Sweetshrub is sold in nurseries as the cultivar 'Athens" and is especially fragrant, per Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016).
)
JK Marlow jkm201113_8226
November Greenville County SC
Caesars Head State Park
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Calycanthus floridus
FAMILY
Calycanthaceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus
FAMILY
Calycanthaceae
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Calycanthus brockianus
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Calycanthus floridus
INCLUDING (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Calycanthus brockiana
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus
INCLUDING
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus
INCLUDING
Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING
Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Calycanthus floridus var. laevigatus
INCLUDING
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 083-01-001b:
Calycanthus floridus var. laevigatus
FAMILY
Calycanthaceae
INCLUDING
Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968)
Calycanthus floridus var. floridus
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus fertilis
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus floridus
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus mohrii
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Calycanthus nanus
236
Shrub
Perennial
Habitat: Mesic to dry-mesic forests and streambanks; in the East Gulf Coastal plain in dry-mesic beech-magnolia bluff forests and lower slopes of sandhills, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Coastal Plain of GA & SC) (rare in NC Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Opposite
FLOWER:
Spring
Maroon
Radially symmetrical
Numerous tepals
Numerous stamens
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Pseudocarp
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p318
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p080
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p238
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p068
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p123
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p121
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p427
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p107
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p061
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p237
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p138
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p086
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p142
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p026
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p045
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p17
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p275
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p082
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