166 



1918. Both are now hollow although the outside is quite solid after 

 having been cut about fifty years. Chips were cut from the root spurs 

 and the wood was almost as aromatic as if the tree had just been cut. 

 "The stumps have been burned at least three times/' says Mr. Hole, yet 

 the smaller now measures 1.09 m. (43 inches) in diameter at a meter 

 high. The largest stump now measures 1.22 m. (48 inches), in diameter 

 at a meter high. Mr. Hole says that the smallest tree had a clear bole 

 of at least 18 meters, and the largest tree was .92 m. (36 inches) in 

 diameter 20 meters from the stump. 



Sassafras deserves more consideration than it has received as a shade 

 and ornamental tree. The autumnal coloring of its foliage is scarcely 

 surpassed by any tree; and it is free from injurious insect pests. It 

 adapts itself to almost all kinds of soils, and grows rapidly. It is, 

 however, transplanted with difficulty; this means only more care in 

 digging the tre.e and planting it. 



Commonly the sassafras is classed as red and white sassafras. The 

 roots of the white sassafras are said to be whiter, the aroma of the wood 

 has a suggestion of camphor, and the wood is less durable. This belief is 

 common throughout the area of its distribution, but so far as the writer 

 knows, no scientific work has been published to verify this division of 

 the species. 



Sassafras is extremely variable, but most botanical authors have 

 considered the many variations as one species. Nuttall in 1818 was 

 the first author to make a division of the forms, and he has been fol- 

 lowed by some recent authors. Nuttall separated those forms with 

 smooth twigs, buds, and under surface of leaves, from those with pube- 

 scent twigs, buds, and under surface of leaves. Nieuwland 1 separates a 

 variety from the smooth forms which he calls Sassafras albida variety 

 glauca, and reports it as occuring in the counties in the vicinity of Lake 

 Michigan. 



The writer has at hand 46 specimens from 41 counties in Indiana, 

 including all of the Lake Michigan Counties, and he has not been able 

 to find a single character that is constant enough to make a division of 

 our forms, consequently all the Indiana forms are included under one 

 and the old name for sassafras. 



ALTINGIACEAE. SWEET GUM FAMILY. 



Liquidambar Styraciflua Linnaeus. SWEET GUM. Plate 70. 

 Large trees with resinous sap; bark deeply furrowed, grayish; twigs 

 when very young somewhat hairy, soon becoming glabrous, a light red- 

 dish-brown by the end of the season, later a gray, usually some or all 



'Amer. Midland Naturalist Vol. 3:347:1914. 



