480 Lauraceae Sassafras 



102. LAURACEAE Lindl. Laurel Family 



Leaves or some of them, lobed, thick; anthers 4-celled, 4-valved; fruit blue black. 



2795. Sassafras, p. 480. 



Leaves entire, thin; anthers 2-celled, 2-valved; fruit red 2821. Benzoin, p. 480. 



2795. SASSAFRAS Nees. 



Lower surface of leaves glabrate or with a few hairs on the midrib and along the 

 principal nerves 1. S. albidum. 



Lower surface of the leaves more or less soft-pubescent, upon age some of them 



becoming nearly glabrous while others retain some of their pubescence 



la. S. albidum var. molle. 



1. Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees. (Sassafras variifolium (Salisb.) 

 Ktze. and Sassafras Sassafras (L.) Karst.) Sassafras. Map 988. For 

 a discussion of this species and its variety see Rhodora 38 : 178-179. 1936. 

 My specimens pass insensibly from the glabrate to the densely pubescent 

 form. The species and variety have no geographical range in the state. 



This tree was formerly, without doubt, a native of every county of 

 the state. It is usually found in colonies because it propagates freely by 

 rootshoots. It is somewhat frequent in sandy soil in the northern counties, 

 becoming rare and local south of the lake area, and frequent to common 

 in the hilly counties of the southern part of the state. It is usually found 

 in old, fallow and abandoned fields where it sometimes forms thickets 

 over the whole area. The entire plant is aromatic and the bark of the 

 root was much used by the pioneers for making sassafras tea. 



Distribution probably mostly in the Mississippi Valley. 



la. Sassafras albidum var. molle (Raf.) Fern. The pubescent form 

 is more frequent in Indiana than the glabrate form. The distribution is 

 probably that given for the complex by the earlier authors. 



Maine, s. Ont. to Iowa, southw. to Fla. and Tex. 



2821. BENZOIN Fabricius. 



1. Benzoin aestivale (L.) Nees. Spicebush. Map 989. Spicebush was 

 formerly found, without doubt, in every county of the state. It is always 

 found in wet places in woods although I found it to be abundant on the 

 north slope of a wooded hill about 3 miles northeast of Madison in Jeffer- 

 son County. In the forester's opinion it is an obnoxious shrub in the 

 woodland. 



This shrub is extremely variable as to the pubescence of the branchlets 

 and leaves. The form with pubescent branchlets, lower surface of leaves, 

 petioles, and pedicels has been named var. pubescens Palmer & Steyer- 

 mark (Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 22: 545. 1935). Since my 73 Indiana 

 specimens show every gradation between the glabrous and the pubescent 

 forms I prefer to regard our specimens as belonging to a polymorphic 

 complex. 



Maine, cent. Mich, to e. Kans., southw. to Ga. and e. Tex. 



