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Lindera obtusiloba
  • RHS AGM

blunt-lobed spice bush

L. obtusiloba is a large deciduous, dioecious shrub to 6m, with broad leaves mostly three-lobed at the tip, turning bright butter-yellow in the autumn. Small mustard-yellow flowers in clusters on bare branches followed by spherical glossy, red-brown berries on female plants

Synonyms
Benzoin obtusilobum

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Size
Ultimate height
4–8 metres
Time to ultimate height
20–50 years
Ultimate spread
4–8 metres
Growing conditions
Clay
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained
pH
Acid
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring Yellow Green
Summer Green
Autumn Yellow Brown Red
Winter
Position
  • Partial shade
Aspect

West–facing or South–facing or East–facing

Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness
H5
Botanical details
Family
Lauraceae
Native to the UK
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy
Genus

Lindera can be deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs with aromatic leaves and small star-shaped dioecious flowers in axillary umbels in spring followed, on pollinated female plants, by glossy berries

Name status

Correct

Plant range
Japan, China, Korea

How to grow

Cultivation

Grows well in most fertile, acidic soils in a woodland scenario. Male and female plants need to be grown in order for the female to bear fruit

Propagation

Propagate by seed sown in containers in a cold frame in autumn or take softwood cuttings in early summer

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Flower borders and beds
  • Wall side borders
Pruning

Pruning group 1

Pests

Generally pest-free

Diseases

Generally disease-free

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