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SASSAFRAS 



{Sassafras officinale N. and E.) 



THE sassafras is a small, aromatic tree, usually 

 not over 40 feet in height or a foot in diameter. 

 It is common throughout the State on dry soils, 

 except in the higher mountains, and is one of the 

 first broad-leaf trees to come up on abandoned fields, 

 where the seeds are dropped by birds. It is closely 

 related to the camphor tree of Japan. The bark of 



SAiSSsAFRAS 

 Twig, one-half natural size. Leaf, one-third natural size. 



the trunt is thick, red-brown and deeply furrowed 

 and that of the twigs is bright green. 



The leaves are very characteristic. It is one of the 

 few trees having leaves of widely different shape on 

 the same tree, or even on the same twig. Some are 

 oval and entire, 4 to 6 inches long; others have one 

 lobe, resembling the thumb on a mitten; while still 

 others are divided at the outer end into 3 distinct 

 lobes. The young leaves and twigs are quite mu- 

 cilaginous. 



The flowers are clustered, greenish, yellow, and 

 open with the first unfolding of the leaves. The male 

 and female fiowers are usually on different trees. 

 The fruit is an oblong, dark blue or black, lustrous 

 berry, containing one seed and surrounded at the 

 base by what appears to be a small orange-red or 

 scarlet cup at the end of a scarlet stalk. 



The wood is light, soft, weak, brittle, and durable 

 in the soil; the heartwood is dull orange-brown. It 

 is used for po.sts, rails, boat-building, cooperage and 

 for ox-yokes. The bark of the roots yields the very 

 aromatic oil of sassafras much used for flavoruig 

 candies and various commercial products. 



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