Herb library · Herb · Lindera benzoin
Spicebush
A shrub of eastern North American woods whose twigs, bark and red berries smell of allspice. It was a household fever tea and a wartime spice in the American South. It has not been studied in people.
Traditional use
King's American Dispensatory (1905) records that the bark and twigs were made into a tea for fevers and to bring on a sweat, that oil from the berries was rubbed on bruises and aching joints, and that the dried berries stood in for allspice during the American Revolution and in the South during the Civil War. Its old names, fever-bush and wild allspice, come from those uses.
What studies show
No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.
- Insufficient
Fevers, colds and aches: no study of spicebush in people was found.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteThere is no modern safety information for spicebush taken as a medicine, so side effects and interactions are unknown. Its use as a spice in small amounts is a different matter from medicinal doses.
- PregnancyNo safety information for pregnancy or breastfeeding was found; avoid medicinal amounts then.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“The bark, in decoction, is said to be refrigerant and exhilarating, and exceedingly useful in all kinds of fever, for allaying excessive heat and uneasiness; a warm decoction is employed to produce diaphoresis.”
Sources
- Research progress on medicinal plants of genus Lindera and their sesquiterpenoids (2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.