The host plants of the spicebush swallowtail are most commonly either spicebush ("Lindera benzoin") or white sassafras ("Sassafras albidum"). Other possible host plants include prickly ash ("Zanthoxylum"), as well as tulip tree ("Liriodendron tulipifera"), sweetbay ("Magnolia virginiana"), camphor ("Cinnamomum camphora") and redbay ("Persea borbonia"). Redbay and swampbay are the primary host plants for members of the "P. t. ilioneus" strain, while spicebush and sassafras as the primary hosts for "P. t. troilus". However, when given the choice between spicebush and sassafras, the "P. t. troilus" showed no significant preference for either.