Sassafras LAURACEAE Lindera 



berry. About 45 genera with 1,000 species, tropical and subtropical; 12 genera and 

 about 100 species in China. 



Key to the Genera 



A. Fls. in racemes, umbels, or fascicles, rarely solitary : plants mostly 

 dioecious. 

 Fls. in short racemes : lvs. usually 3-lobed, 3-nerved from the 



base : anthers 4-celled 1. Sassafras 



Fls. in umbels or fascicles : lvs. mostly entire. 



Anthers 2-celled 2. Lindera 



Anthers 4-celled 3. Litsea 



AA. Fls. in panicles, perfect or polygamo-dioecious : lvs. persistent. 



Lvs. 3-nerved: perianth lobes deciduous in fr 4. Cinnamomum 



Lvs. penninerved : perianth lobes persistent in fr. 



Perianth lobes reflexed in f r 5. Machilus 



Perianth lobes erect in f r 6. Phoebe 



1. Sassafras Nees WMU (Ch'a Shu Shu) 

 Deciduous trees: lvs. broad, entire or 1-3-lobed at the apex, and 3-nerved at the 

 base: fls. polygamous, in clustered racemes, before the lvs.; anthers 4-celled and 4- 

 valved: fr. an ovoid drupe. Two species, one in eastern Asia and one in eastern 

 North America. (Spanish: salsafras, the vernacular name applied by the early 

 settlers in Florida.) 

 1. Sassafras tzumu Hemsl. fgjtf (Ch'a Shu) (R.M. 259). Tree, to 10 m.; fls. IV; 

 fr. orange red, VIII; lvs. 3-lobed. Central China; locally in An., Che., Ki., Ku. 

 Forest. Fig. 122. 



2. Lindera Thunb. Benzoin |i|#]|feM (Shan Hu Chiao Shu) 

 Fls. in lateral sessile involucrate clusters, before the lvs. (in deciduous species); 

 anthers 2-celled and 2-valved: fr. a drupe. 60 species, in eastern Asia and North 

 America; about 25 in China. (After John Linder, Swedish botanist.) 



Key to the Species 

 a. Lvs. nerved from the base. 



Lvs. evergreen, coriaceous, 3-7.5 cm. long 1. L. strychnifolia 



Lvs. deciduous, membranous. 



Lvs. entire; nerves and petioles tinged red 2. L. rubronervia 



Lvs. shortly 3-lobed 3. L. cercidifolia 



aa. Lvs. pinnately veined. 



b. Lvs. cordate, ovate or rounded, 6-11 cm. long : fls. appearing 



before the lvs 4. L. reflexa 



bb. Lvs. oblong to lanceolate. 



c. Lvs. evergreen, over 15cm. long: fr. to 22mm. long .. 5. L. megaphylla 

 cc. Lvs. smaller : fr. 5-15 mm. long, 

 d. Umbels 3-8-fld., axillary. 



Fr. bright red: lvs. scarcely glaucescent beneath 6. L. erythrocarpum 

 Fr. black or dark purple : lvs. glaucous beneath. 

 Winter buds small, 3-5 mm. long: brts. greenish 



yellow, glabrous: pedicels 3-6 mm. long 7. L. angustifolia 



Winter buds larger : brts. dull gray or brown, 

 puberulous when young: pedicels about 1.5 cm. 

 long 8. L. glauca 



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