It sounds like early blight. Probably the same fungus that caused the black spot on the rose bush. A fungicide like Serenade should work or if it's really persistent try Daconil.

Umm. Early blight is caused by a different fungus than is black spot on rose.

Maybe you should read my post again jean. You are becoming a pest. I didn't say it was early blight.

Black Spot of roses is not the same as Early Blight and is not caused by the same pathogen, or fungus, as taz did imply in what is writen.
Spicebush apparently is not one of the plants that gets Early Blight, although there are reports of Leaf Blight (a different pathogen than Early Blight) in some places.
To the best of my knowledge niether of the fungicides recommended has Spicebush, or this Leaf Blight, listed on the label and it would then be a violation of federal law to use them to control this.
Aside from removing the infected leaves I have not found anything about control of this one.

You people are taking my statement out of context IMO.

Is this better for you 2?

It sounds like early blight but probably the same fungus that caused the black spot on the rose bush. A fungicide like Serenade should work or if it's really persistent try Daconil

After reading the label of daconil again I have to agree with kimmsr that it doesn't list your plant. Here is a list of possible fungicides that might work.
http://www.gardenguides.com/107710-systemic-fungicides-fruit-trees/

Thanks you guys for the input. It's impossible to remove infected leaves, as their would be no foilage. I'm an organic gardener but I PRIZE this plant and will try anything to save it.
Even if my plant isn't listed on the label, as spicebush isn't a common plant, couldn't the fungicide still work?
What's the main ingredients in Serenade and Daconil?
Thanks!!!!!

I don't think it's against federal law to use stuff listed for use in food crops just because it doesn't have an uncommon plant listed. Companies are too cheap to list ALL the possibilities.

The plants listed on the label are the only plants the product has been approved by the USEPA for use on and it is, as the label clearly states, a violation of federal law to use the product for anything not labeled. If the label does not say you can use the product on a certain plant you cannot, legally.

That means if you have weeds at the base of your plant then you have to pull the weeds before you spray. ;p Doh!

Taz if you have a "weed" growing at the base of a plant you want and you spray something to kill the "weed" and that spray gets onto the plant you want, the plant you want will also die. The best method to use if you have a "weed" growing that close to a plant you want is to physically remover the plant, not spray some kind of poison. I doubt that any good gardener would spray a "weed" killer that close to a desireable plant.

We're not talking about spraying weed killer kimmsr! My point is if you have to follow the directions that closely then you couldn't spray anything without removing the weeds. I don't know of any pesticides or fungicides that lists weeds.

Novice I'm sorry for the hijack. If you're organic you don't want to use daconil. Serenades active ingredient is a naturally occurring strain of B. subtilis. The bacteria produce a natural antibiotic that helps crops out-compete the pathogens.

A better way to interpret a label regarding chemical usage would be to read the "DO NOT USE...." list. Labels simply cannot(physically) list all of the hundreds of thousands of plants that many common products can be used on, but will often cite the greatly abbreviated list of plants to be avoided, if there is a notable problem.

Federal law allows interpretation of the label as long as you don't use a product in a way that is not CONSISTENT with the label use. Generalized lists for Daconil will read something like: 'for use on trees, shrubs, ornamentals, flowers, fruits, vegetables...' Most pesticide labels are written with the emphasis on the TARGET pest (insect, weed, disease, etc.) for a reason.

The important issue is the identity of this disease. Once you know what you might be dealing with, you can determine which fungicide or treatment to use, and what other management techniques might be available to prevent it in the future.

Serenade has a somewhat limited list of targeted disease organisms it can be use against, which makes it all the most important that you find out the ID of the disease. Contact your local extension office to see if you can send some samples to the plant pathology lab. Most states offer that service for a fee.

OR, if you have a way of taking some good images, you might be able to email them to the lab.

Daconil is not something any one should use, much less any organci gardener. The Pesticide Action Network lists this as a really bad actor.
Serenade, "Bacillus subtilis" apparently works by encouraging the plants immune system to repel the disease pathogens, something a plant growing in a good, healthy soil would do.

Yes, as much as I love my spicebush, I saw Daconil at the local supermegastore the other day and just couldn't bring myself to buy it.
Rhizo, I wish I could post a pic or have a "sample" sent off for a fee, but can't.
From the little bit of reading I could do on this borrrowed computer, I'm guessing it's some kind of "halo" blight, bacterial, or some kinda fungal leaf blight.
So, yes proper id of the dx is important.
I can only tell you what it looks like. The black spots with yellow rings around it have turned into a brownish (rust colored) dead spot on some of the leaves.
I think I will order Serenade, give it a shot since it's organic. taz's and kimmsrs description of Serenade make it sound ok.
I'm guessing it's fungal.
Not sure what to do, as I said earlier, removing all leaves that have a spot on them would leave it with only a few leaves. It hasn't rained in weeks, so I watered it at the base of the plant.
Still hoping to save it...........