161 
Distribution. Northern United States, south to the Gulf States 
and west to eastern Kansas and Texas. Found in all parts of Indi- 
ana. In the western, northwestern and extreme northern counties 
it is quite frequent and sometimes attains a diameter of more than 
2 dm. (8 inches). In the southern counties it sometimes becomes 
a large tree.* In some counties of the eastern-central part it is 
rare. In the southern part of the State it is common everywhere 
and generally persists in cultivated fields for years. Here waste 
ground is soon covered with it. Sassafras is usually found on poor 
soil. In the northern part of the State it 1s generally found in dry, 
sandy or gravelly soil, or on the black and white oak land. In the 
southern part it is found everywhere, especially in sterile soil, and 
is usually associated with the persimmon. 
In our area there are two forms of this tree. One is known as 
white sassafras which is nearly all sap wood and the bark of the 
roots is white. In contact with the soil the wood soon rots. The 
other is known as the red sassafras. The bark of the roots and 
the greater part of the wood is red, and is durable in contact with 
the soil. 
The published records of the distribution are as follows: Cass 
(Hessler) ; Clark (Baird and Taylor) and (Smith) ; Dearborn (Collins) ; 
Delaware (Phinney) ; Delaware, Jay, Randolph and Wayne (Phinney) ; 
Fountain (Brown); Franklin (Meyncke); Gibson (Schneck); Ham- 
ilton (Wilson); Jay (M’Caslin); Jefferson (Coulter) and (Young); 
Knox (Ridgway) and (Thomas); Kosciusko (Clark), (Coulter), 
(Scott) and (Youse); Lake (Higley and Radden); Marion (Wilson); 
Miami (Gorby); vicinity of New Albany (Clapp); Noble (Van 
Gorder); Posey (Schneck); Putnam (MacDougal); Steuben (Brad- 
ner); Tippecanoe (Cunningham); Vigo (Blatchley). 
Additional recordsare: Montgomery (Evans); Putnam (Grimes) ; 
Tippecanoe (Coulter); Allen, Clark, Dubois, Gibson, Harrison, Jack- 
son, Kosciusko, Lake, Laporte, Marshall, Monroe, Morgan, Owen, 
Starke, Vermillion, Warren and Wells (Deam). 
Economic uses. Wood light, soft, brittle, coarse-grained, slightly 
aromatic, sap wood light yellow, heart wood orange brown, and 
durable in the ground. Used principally for fence posts. The bark 
of the roots and pith of the small branches are used in medicine. A 
tea made from the bark of the roots was used by the pioneers to 
*On the land of Joseph Hole, Esq., (Jennings County), bordering the South Fork, are two 
sassafras trees, the first measuring four feet in diameter four feet from the ground, the other some- 
what less. These trees stood near each other. The first tree was cut for saw stocks and shingles; 
the top of the last cut, forty feet from the stump, measured three feet in diameter. (Rept. Ind. Geol. 
Surv., 1875, page 177). 
