Calycanthus occidentalis

Calycanthus occidentalis, commonly called spice bush or western sweetshrub,[3] is a species of flowering shrub in the family Calycanthaceae that is native to California and, according to some sources, Washington state. It grows along streams and moist canyons in the foothills of mountains.

Calycanthus occidentalis
The flowers do not have distinct sepals and petals.

Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Calycanthaceae
Genus: Calycanthus
Species:
C. occidentalis
Binomial name
Calycanthus occidentalis
Hook. & Arn.[2]
Synonyms[2]
  • Butneria occidentalis (Hook. & Arn.) Greene
  • Calycanthus macrophyllus K.Koch

Description

Calycanthus occidentalis is a deciduous shrub that can reach a height of 4 m (13 ft). Its leaves are opposite, and grow to about 5–15 cm (2–6 in) long and 2–8 cm (0.8–3.1 in) wide. They are more-or-less ovate with acute tips, a rounded base. The flowers appear from late spring to early fall. The flowers do not have distinctive sepals and petals, but have swirls of dark red to burgundy colored petal-like structures called tepals, 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 in) long and 0.5–1 cm (0.2–0.4 in) wide. The flowers open to about 5 cm (2 in) wide. The tepals enclose about 10–15 stamens.[4][5] The flowers are pollinated by beetles of the family Nitidulidae.[6]

Distribution and habitat

Calycanthus occidentalis is native to California and, according to some sources, Washington.[2][3][4] It grows along streams and on moist canyon slopes at elevations of 200–1,600 m (700–5,200 ft).[4]

References
  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
  2. "Calycanthus occidentalis Hook. & Arn". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Calycanthus occidentalis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  4. Johnson, George P. "Calycanthus occidentalis". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America (online). eFloras.org. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  5. Johnson, George P.; Fosiée, Tahbaz. "Calycanthus occidentalis Sweet-shrub, Spicebush". Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. Gottsberger, Gerhard; Gottsberger, Brigitte; Silberbauer-Gottsberger, Ilse; Stanojlovic, Vesna; Cabrele, Chiara & Dötterl, Stefan (2021). "Imitation of fermenting fruits in beetle-pollinated Calycanthus occidentalis (Calycanthaceae)". Flora. 274. 151732. doi:10.1016/j.flora.2020.151732.


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