248 



TREE ANCESTORS 



Until a few years ago when two species were recognized in 

 central China sassafras was known as a monotypic genus, that is 

 to say, one \\dth only single hving species — for botanists, like most 

 other people, have rarely paid any attention to other than living 

 species. 



The great systematist Linnaeus called the sassafras Laiirus 

 sassafras in allusion to a name of Spanish origin in Florida, and 

 when the old and composite genus Laurus was dismembered, its 

 scientific name became Sassafras sassafras which is in conformity 



Fig. 45. Sketch ]SIap Showing Present Distribution (solid black) and 

 Fossil Occurrences (circles) of the Sassafras 



with the rules which modem systematic botanists observe, although 

 Nees who in 1831 established the genus Sassafras for its reception 

 called our American tree Sassafras officinale in allusion to its place, 

 if but a minor one, in the pharmacopeia. 



The wood is soft, brittle and weak, but durable like that of most 

 members of this large family. It is sometimes used for posts and 

 rails where the tree is abundant, and some of its tropical relatives 

 3deld a very hard wood that is almost indestructible. 



