Lindera benzoin -L. Blume-
spicebush


Entry Type: Species

Species Name: Lindera benzoin -L. Blume-

Common Name: spicebush

Myaamia Name: wiinaahkatwi

Description:

Harvest Seasons: Spring

Harvest Comments:

Habitats: Beech-Oak-Maple Mixed Mesophytic, Dry Prairie grasslands, Conifer Swamp some deciduous domts.

Uses: Food, Medicinal

Locations: Undetermined

Sources

Lamb, E.W. and Shultz, L.W. 1964

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

"Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) was also used as a remedy for aches and sluggishness much as our vitamin pills at the present time--not quite so costly, however".

Comments: N/A

Gatschet, A.S. ca. 1895

Reference Type: Description

Archival Data:

"winaxkátwi spicebush, known in the south west as spicewood, a shrub with yellow flowers, tree is four feet high".

Comments: N/A

Gatschet, A.S. ca. 1895

Reference Type: Use - Medicinal

Archival Data:

The stems of spicebush were used to make tea. "The Indians cut the stems into sticks or small pieces pour hot water over them and drink the infusion as spicewood tea".

Comments: N/A

Rafert, S. 1989

Reference Type: Use - Medicinal/Food

Archival Data:

Used in tea as a tonic.  "My mother used to use it, besides making spicebush tea, she used it to parboil older game like an old 'coon or an old woodchuck. To parboil 'em in it, it tenderized 'em. Or at least we thought it did."

Comments: N/A

Olds, J., Olds, D. and D. Tippman 1999

Reference Type: Use - Medicinal

Archival Data:

Spicebush root tea was used "for everything you know".

Comments: N/A

Rafert, S. 1989

Reference Type: Description

Archival Data:

"Spicebush is a small bush that grows about six feet tall . . . It has a red berry on it in the fall of the year and in the spring it has a small yellow-clustered bloom. It’s a blackish-looking plant--shrub--and it has an aromic smell to it. You break off a piece of it and chew on it, or just smell it, it has a real spicy smell to it. Decidedly spice".

Comments: N/A

Gonella, M.P 2003-2006

Reference Type: Use - Medicinal/Food

Archival Data:

Fruits were gathered and dried for seasonsing. Young leaves used for tea.

Comments: N/A

Gonella, M.P 2003-2006

Reference Type: Horticultural Info

Archival Data:

Pick berries when they are red in fall.

Comments: N/A

Rafert, S. 1989

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

"They [the Myaamia] took to coffee like a duck to water when it became introduced to them. But in their earlier days, their primitive days, they didn't know coffee. The only drink they had of that type would have been sassafras or spicebush".

Comments: N/A

Dunn, J.P. ca. 1900

Reference Type: Use - Medicinal

Archival Data:

Tea was made using spicebush.

Comments: N/A

Gleason, H.A. and Cronquist, A. 1991

Reference Type: Habitat

Archival Data :

Occurs in moist, rich woods in eastern and western Myaamia lands.

Comments: N/A

No sources entered.

Legends

  • L.: L. stands for Carl Linneaus, a Swedish botanist and zoologist living from 1707 - 1778, who formed the binomial nomenclature system for scientific naming of species (the two part name). His initial after a scientific name indicates he was the authority for that species name.
  • sp.: Indicates the actual species name cannot or need not be specified. Example: Lilium sp. indicates a single species in the genus Lilium that is not known or does not need to be specified.
  • spp.: (plural) indicates "several species", two or more species of the given genus. Example: Lilium spp. indicates 2 or more species in the genus that cannot or do not need to be distinguished.
  • Use - Unknown: A record for this plant exists but does not include explicit information about the plant's cultural use. It is probable the Myaamia used the plant.
  • Botanical Sources: Sources of any botanical data for this plant species that is not related to its cultural use or significance.
  • Related Sources: Data indirectly related to Myaamia ethnobotany, including non-Myaamia uses of the plant in contemporary and historic times.
  • Myaamia Archival Sources: All records of plant use obtained directly from a Myaamia tribal member in an interview, recorded by a second party or by self-recording.
  • Undetermined (Plant Use): There exists use or other information about a certain, unknown plant species, but the specific species has not yet been determined.
  • Medicinal: For the purposes of this database, medicinal uses of plants and medicinal knowledge are defined as: Commonly held communal knowledge regarding the use of plant-based substances that aid in maintaining a healthy mind, body or spirit, including tonics and teas.
  • Technology: For the purposes of this database, technological uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in the making of food processing, canoes, rafts, dyes, tools, utensils, weapons, hunting and fishing gear (i.e. net, weir, etc.), cordage, string, rope, fodder plant species, firewood, any plants used in trade, etc.
  • Material: For the purposes of this database, material uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in construction of dwellings (floor mats, roofing, side walls), furniture, baskets, storage items, musical instruments, games, crafts, jewelry, cordage used in crafts, etc.
  • Food: For the purposes of this database, food uses of plants are defined as: Plants used as consumed food, spices and seasonings, but not teas or tonics.
  • Customs: For the purposes of this database, customary uses of plants are defined as: Plants involved in a customary ceremony, ritual or traditional event, including ritual smoking, chewing tobacco, war rituals, special mats used to sit on during ceremonies. Customary uses of plants, in this database, does not including plants used for recreation (material), structures where ceremonies take place (material) or medicinal smoking (medicinal).
  • Eastern Myaamia Lands: Eastern Myaamia lands (eastern myaamionki) are centered around northern Indiana, and including western Ohio, eastern Illinois, southern Michigan, and the northernmost portions of Kentucky.
  • Western Myaamia Lands: Western Myaamia lands (western myaamionki) include western Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma.