18 



SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. laurace^. 



The Sassafras is usually found in rich sandy well-drained loam, and in the south Atlantic and Gulf 

 states its stoloniferous roots often take possession of jfields abandoned by the agriculturist. 



The Sassafras was probably one of the first North American trees introduced into European 

 gardens, as the figure of the branch, pubHshed in 1633, in the second edition of Gerarde's Herhall^ 

 was made from a specimen that had grown in a Mr. Wilmote's garden near London. Few inhabitants 

 of the forests of North America are more beautiful or interesting at all seasons of the year ; in winter, 

 with its bright green shining branchlets j in spring, with the charm of its drooping clusters of flowers 

 surrounded by the expanding scales of the buds ; in summer, with the healthy green of its graceful 

 variously shaped leaves j and in autumn, with its brilliant fruit and delicate hues of fading foHage 

 unsurpassed in lovehness by the deeper colors of its forest companions. 



The Sassafras can be propagated by seeds, which should be sown as soon as they are ripe, when 

 they will germinate early the following spring, or by root-suckers, which are often produced in great 

 profusion. The large thick fleshy roots which penetrate deep into the ground make the Sassafras 

 dif&cult to transplant, and small plants should be selected for this purpose. 



Johnson, 1524. — Alton, HorL Kew. ii. 40. — Loudon, Arb, Brit iii, 1301. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



PiiATE CCCIV- Sassafras Sassafras. 



1. A flowering branch of the staminate tree, natural size 



2. A flowering branch of the pistillate tree, natural size. 



3. Diagram of a staminate flower. 



4. Diagram of a pistillate flower. 



5. A staminate flower, enlarged. 



6. Vertical section of a staminate flower, enlarged. 



7. A stamen of the inner series, enlarged. 



8- A stamen of one of the outer series, enlarged. 

 9. A pistillate flower, enlarged. 



10. Vertical section of a pistillate flower, enlarged. 



11. An ovule, much map-nififid. 



Plate CCCV. Sassafras Sassafras. 



1. A fruiting branch, natural size. 



2. Vertical section of a fruit, enlarged. 



3. A seed, enlarged. 



4. An embryo, enlarged. 



5. Sections of an embryo, enlarged. 



6. A winter branchlet, natural size. 



