Horsesugar
Symplocos tinctoria
An early-spring shrub hung with fuzzy creamy-yellow flower clusters tight against bare stems. Its sweet leaves are eagerly browsed by deer and livestock, hence 'horsesugar.' The leaves are sweet enough to chew raw for their refreshing, thirst-quenching flavor — the source of the 'horsesugar' name.
- Family
- Symplocaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 20–20 ft
- Spacing
- 15–20 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- February, March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- yellow
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, larval host
- Landscape uses
- border, naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA