Aromatic, tonic, and stimulant
The shiny, oblong leaves are wedge-shaped near the base. Small, yellow flowers crowded in small, nearly stalkless clusters are followed by fleshy red fruit with a stony covering around the seed. Tea is sometimes brewed from young twigs, leaves, and fruit.
Lindera benzoin
n : deciduous shrub of the eastern United States having highly
aromatic leaves and bark and yellow flowers followed by
scarlet or yellow berries
‘Wild Allspice.’ All parts of the shrub have a spicy, agreeable flavour, which is strongest in the bark and berries. The leaves and berries are also used in decoction in domestic practice as a febrifuge and are considered to have tonic and also anthelmintic properties. A tincture prepared from the fresh young twigs before the buds have burst in the spring, is still used in homoeopathy, but no preparation is employed officially.
Most of this information came from: http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/allsp025.html
and the image shown here is actually allspice (pimento) which is different from wild allspice or “lindera benzoin” but the illustration is awesome.
