THE SASSAFRAS 



IN the consciousness of one whose youth was passed in a region where the Sassafras 

 was abundant this species is sure to occupy a unique position. The peculiar aromatic 

 taste of the bark and root, and the accompanying rather pleasing aromatic odor, 

 serve to set the Sassafras apart from all the other trees of the forest. As if to emphasize 

 this fact, the leaves take on three forms, each of which is distinctive. In the oval form, 

 which perhaps is the commonest on most trees, the margin is entire and symmetrical. 

 In the mitten form the margin has one large thumb-like projection that gives the leaf its 

 distinctive shape. Sometimes there are two such lobes, and all three forms may be found 

 side by side upon the same twig. 



The flowers of the Sassafras appear in May, generally a little in advance of the 

 leaves. They are of a greenish-yellow color which is not very conspicuous, and are borne 

 in corymb-like racemes on the ends of the twigs. The pollen-bearing and the seed-bearing 

 blossoms are usually upon separate trees. There are no petals, but the sepals are somewhat 

 petal-like and give the individual flower an expanse of about half an inch. An interesting 

 part of their structure is found in the arrangement of the straight stamens in three series, 

 and the presence at the base of each of the filaments of the inner three stamens of a pair 

 of stalked glands, presumably for the secretion of nectar. These blossoms develop during 

 the latter part of summer into blue, oblong drupes about half an inch in length. 



The fact that the Sassafras has long been esteemed as a medicine is shown by the 

 statement, in George B. Emerson's "Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," that its roots 

 formed part of the first cargo exported from that State. At present it is not so highly 

 esteemed for its medicinal properties as it was in former days, but it still is largely used, 

 especially as a flavoring for various medicines. 



Throughout most of its range, which includes the region east of Kansas and Texas, 

 north to New Hampshire and Michigan, the Sassafras is usually a shrub or small tree, 

 occasionally, however, in the Southwest reaching a great size. Trees of a height of one 

 hundred feet and a diameter of six or seven feet give one a very different impression of the 

 possibilities of the species from that which one gets from the small trees of the New England 

 region. The bark of the shrubs and quite young trees is of a characteristic greenish-gray 

 color, and is commonly marked with even striations. When the trees reach a diameter 

 of several inches the bark of the trunk becomes firmly ridged with many rather deep 

 vertical furrows. Its color is dark reddish brown. 



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