Botanical name: Lindera pulcherrima    Family: Lauraceae (Laurel family)
Synonyms: Benzoin pulcherrimum, Daphnidium pulcherrimum

Himalayan Spicebush is an evergreen shrub or small tree up to 5 m. Leaves are elliptic to lanceshaped, 6-12 x 2.5-6 cm, finely tapering to long-with a tail, base rounded or wedge-shaped, whitish silky beneath when young becoming nearly hairless and glaucous beneath, strongly 3-veined from base to tip, minor veins transerverse, not very prominent; leaf-stalks 8-12 mm. Flowers are 5-6, greenish-yellow, with hairy stalks, borne in globular clusters in leaf-axils, about 1-1.5 cm across. Flower clusters are encircled by 4-6 large pale overlapping silky-hairy bracts which fall when the flowers open; perianth about 5 mm across, silky-haired. Tepals are about 3 mm, falling off. Fruit is ellipsoid, about 10 x 7 mm, borne above entire perianth rim about 2 mm across. Himalayan Spicebush is found at altitudes of 1400-2700 m in the Himalayas, from Kumaun to NE India, Burma, Thailand, China. Flowering: March-April.
Medicinal uses: The leaves and bark of Himalayan Spicebush are used for the treatment of colds, fever and cough.

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The flower labeled Himalayan Spicebush is ...