Western Spicebush, Western Sweetbush, California Allspice,                kal-i-KAN-thus ok-si-den-TA-lis

• Deciduous shrub, 4-12 ft (1.2-4 m) tall, fast growing, upright, rounded or irregular.  Leaves opposite, simple, ovate to elliptical, 8-20 cm long, entire margin, upper surface rough and dark green, pubescent beneath; yellow fall color.  Flowers solitary, purple-brown fading to yellow, 5-7 cm wide, fragrant, blooms in late spring and summer.  Curshed flowers and leaves have an odor of an "old wine barrel".  Fruit capsule-like, to 5 cm, somewhat woody, persists into winter.
• Sun or shade.  Not fussy about soil and drainage.  Generally not considered a "delectable salad" by deer.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 7      Native range from the southern Cascades south to California coast ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, and central and southern High Sierra Nevada, found in moist shady places, canyons, and streambanks.
• occidentalis: western
• Silverton, Oregon: The Oregon Garden.