Calycanthus floridus, commonly known as sweetshrub or Carolina allspice, is an unusual plant native to North America. Not only does this deciduous shrub have striking pink-red blooms, but the flowers have a most unusual scent, with notes of cinnamon, banana and strawberry.
Beyond simply its aesthetic and sensory appeal, sweetshrub has a rich history, and fossil records suggest that many plants found in the Calycanthus genus were growing during the Cretaceous period. So, if you are looking for something unusual for your yard, sweetshrub can be traced back to the time of the dinosaurs.
