342 TREES IN WINTER 



SASSAFRAS 



Sassafras variifoliiim (Salisb.) Kuntze. 

 IS. officinale Nees & Eberm. ; S. Sassafras Karst. 



HABIT — A small tree at times reaching 40-50 ft. in height, with 

 a trunk diameter of 2-4 ft.; at the north smaller and often shrubby; 

 in the southern states reaching a height of 100 ft.; branches numerous, 

 stout, more or less contorted, often distinctly in yearly whorls, horizontal 

 or forming a broad angle with the trunk, subdividing to produce a 

 dense bushy spray and forming a flat-topped or slightly rounded 

 oblong head (upper photograph). Limbs brittle and frequently lost 

 through ice storms or other injuries, giving the tree a battered appear- 

 ance as shown in lower photograph. The tree sprouts abundantly 

 from the roots, often surrounding itself with a thicket of saplings (see 

 those at right in lower picture). 



BARK — Reddish brown, deeply furrowed even in comparatively young 

 trees into broad flat ridges with narrow horizontal cracks running part 

 way around the trunk and dividing the ridges into short blocks, which 

 are oblong or in the form of erect or inverted Y's and Vs. 



TWIGS — Slender to stout, bright yellowish-green, often reddish where 

 exposed to light, smooth and shining or somewhat downy; internodes 

 very unequal; rapidly grown shoots freely branching the first season, 

 the branches exceeding the main axis; twigs spicy-aromatic to both 

 smell and taste, mucilaginous if chewed. LENTICELS — scattered, very 

 inconspicuous. 



LEAF-SCARS — Alternate, more than 2-ranked, small, raised, semi- 

 elliptical, with elevated margins. STIPULE-SCARS — absent. BUNDLE- 

 SCARS — single, forming horizontal line. 



BUDS — Green, more or less tinged with red toward tip; lateral buds 

 small, divergent; terminal buds large, 5-10 mm. long, ovate, pointed; 

 flower buds terminal. BUD-SCALES — with thickened veins; generally 

 3 narrower, thicker, shorter scales surrounding terminal bud. 



FRFIT — Generally scanty, a blue drupe falling early. The Sassafras 

 is generally dioecious. 



C03IPARIS0IVS — Its bright green aromatic mucilaginous twigs which 

 form branches the first season surpassing the main axis, its single 

 bundle-scar and the transverse cracking of the ridges of the bark 

 render the Sassafras one of the most interesting of our native trees in 

 winter. It is scarcely to be confused with any other form. 



DISTRIBVTIOX — In various soils and situations; sandy or rich woods, 

 along the borders of peaty swamps, thickets and fence rows. Provinces 

 of Quebec and Ontario; south to Florida; west to Michigan, Iowa, 

 Kansas, and Texas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Maine — this tree grows not beyond Black Point 

 (Scarboro, Cumberland county) eastward; (Josselyn's New England 

 Rarities, 1672); not reported again by botanists for more than two 

 hundred years; rediscovered at Wells in 1895 and North Berwick in 

 1896; New Hampshire — lower Merrimac valley, eastward to the coast 

 and along the Connecticut valley to Bellows Falls; Vermont — occasional 

 south of the center; Pownal; Hartland and Brattleboro; Vernon; Massa- 

 chusetts — common especially in the eastern sections; Connecticut and 

 Rhode Island — common. 



WOOD — Soft, weak, brittle, coarse-grained, very durable in the soil, 

 aromatic, dull orange-brown, with thin light j^ellow sapwood of 7-8 

 layers of annual growth; largely used for fence-posts and rails and in 

 the construction of light boats, ox-yokes, and in cooperage. The roots 

 and especially their bark are a mild aromatic stimulant, and oil of 

 sassafras used to perfume soaps, flavor candy, etc., and as an ingredient 

 in liniment is distilled from them. 



