ILLINOIS TREES: SELECTION. PLANTING. AND CARE 



107 



buildings and in borders or backgrounds. Sassafras tea, a deli- 

 cious drink, is made from the roots. 



The rather firm, alternate, dark green, egg-shaped, aromatic 

 leaves, 4-6 inches long and 2-4 inches wide, (Fig. 96 insets) , vary 

 from entire to three-lobed and some resemble a mitten. They 

 turn orange-scarlet in autumn. The attractive yellow clusters of 

 male and female flowers are formed in the spring on separate 

 trees. The dark blue, lustrous fruit is usually 14-V2 inch long. It 

 is a one-seeded berry in a small, orange-red or scarlet cup which 

 stands on a scarlet stem that is IV2-2 inches long. The young 

 twigs are hairy, bright green, and aromatic. The dark cinnamon- 

 brown bark is deeply furrowed with horizontal cracks. Although 

 the wood is fairly soft and light, it is durable and is used for 

 fence posts, rails, and railroad ties. 



Serviceberry 



Serviceberry, shadbush, shadblow, or juneberry (Amelan- 

 chier arborea) (Fig, 97), a small native tree with spreading 

 branches, grows to a height of 30 feet and on occasion may reach 

 50 feet. It prefers partial shade and grows more commonly on 



Fig. 97. — The small, shrublikc serviceberry tree produces showy white 

 flowers in early spring before the leaves (inset) unfold. These two young 

 trees are in a border planting. 



