34S AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



This plant is indeed so very different from the typical pubescent 

 Red Sassafras that it seems a wonder to us that Nuttall's plant 

 has not been recognized. The twigs at first but slightly pubescent 

 become bluish white glaucous later without the slightest trace 

 of pubescence. The real Sassafras variijolium is a plant whose 

 twigs are permanently tawny or brown tomentulose. The leaves 

 in older specimens are broad and two lobed. I have found our 

 western white Sassafras as a large tree and typically without any 

 lobed leaves when it has attained maturity. I have watched 

 several trees for a number of years and have never seen a single 

 lobed leaf on these, though in widely separated localities. Usually 

 there are a few lobed leaves and these are the more numerous 

 the younger the specimens. Our western plants are somewhat 

 more treelike than those described by Nuttall and the leaves are 

 thicker and more veiny, the twigs more angled and glaucous 

 On these few characters it is perhaps sufficient to characterize 

 a new variety as distinct from 5. alhida. Type No. 18000 from 

 Rum Village south of vSouth Bend, Ind. in the University 

 Herbarium. 



In studving the plants of the east in the field as also from 

 specimens in our herbarium it would seem that there are several 

 widely different varieties at least along the Atlantic Seaboard. 

 I have not found typical Sassafras variifoliuni in our region. 



Reported as Sassafras variifoliuni (?) from the counties are: 

 Millers, Lake Co. (Deam) Pine, Ind. Higdon and Raddin, Lake 

 Maxinkuckee (H. W. Clarke) Laporte Co. (Deam) also Starke 

 Co. (?) Specim^ens of the variety in our herbarium are No. 971, 

 2222, Notre Dame, Chain Lake, vSt. Joseph Co. No. 9442, Mineral 

 Springs, Porter Co. Nos. 11057, 10272. No. 2004 Notre Dame, 

 (Powers). 



BENZOIN Boerhaave, Index Alter Plantar., II, p. 259 (1727), 

 also Ludwig Def. Gen. PL, (1737), Fabricius, Enum. PI. Hort. 

 Helmst., (1763), Lindera Thunberg Diss. Ill, p. (1783) not Lindera 

 Adanson, (1763)- 



Benzoin aestivale (Linn.) Nees, Syst. Laur. p. 495 (1836). 



Lanrus Benzoin Linn., Sp. PL, p. 370 (1753) Lindera Benzoin 

 Blume, Mus. Bot. Lugd., I, p. 324 (1857). 



Porter, Starke Co. (Deam) Millers and Casella (Higdon a;nd 

 Raddin) Lake Maxinkuckee (H. W. Clarke), Nos. 11458 Rum 

 Village, vSouth Bend, Ind. 9368 Notre Dame, Ind. 



