Calycanthus floridus Linnaeus. Sweet-shrub, Strawberry-shrub, Carolina Allspice, Sweet Bubby-bush. Phen: Apr-May; Aug-Sep. Hab: 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. Dist: PA, WV, and KY, south to GA, nw. FL, AL, s. MS, and e. LA (but note that the outer edges of the natural original distribution are obscured by centuries of cultivation and naturalization).
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Taxonomy Comments: 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 (Weakley 2017a). C. brockianus Ferry & Ferry (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).
Synonymy ⓘ: = Il, NY, Va, Weakley (2017a) in Weakley et al (2017); = n/a – Tat; > Butneria fertilis (Walter) Kearney – S13; > Butneria florida (L.) Kearney – S13; > Butneria mohrii Small – S13; > Butneria nana (Loisel.) Small – S13; > Calycanthus brockiana – K1, Ferry & Ferry (1987), orthographic variant; > Calycanthus brockianus – K3, K4; > Calycanthus fertilis Walter – F, G, S; > Calycanthus floridus L. – F, K4, S; > Calycanthus floridus L. var. floridus – Fl2, FNA3, GW2, K1, K3, NE, Pa, RAB, Tn, WH3, Ferry & Ferry (1987), Nicely (1965); > Calycanthus floridus L. var. glaucus (Willd.) Torr. & A.Gray – C, Fl2, FNA3, K1, K3, NE, Tn, WH3, Ferry & Ferry (1987); > Calycanthus floridus L. var. laevigatus (Willd.) Torr. & A.Gray – GW2, Pa, RAB, Nicely (1965); > Calycanthus floridus L. var. oblongifolius (Nutt.) Boufford & Spongberg; > Calycanthus glaucus Willd.; > Calycanthus laevigatus Willd.; > Calycanthus mohrii Small – S; > Calycanthus nanus Loisel. – S
Links to other floras: > Calycanthus floridus var. glaucus - FNA3; > Calycanthus floridus var. floridus - FNA3
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Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACU
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU
- Midwest: FACU
- Northcentral & Northeast: FACU
Heliophily ⓘ: 4
