SASSAFRAS. 



239 



3 or 4 innermost usually abortive ; anthers opening by 2 or 4 uplifted 

 valves. Ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled ; style solitary. Fruit a 1- seeded berry 

 or drupe. 



A large order of aromatic plants, chiefly tropical, represented in North 

 America by only about half a dozen species. Of the' tropical species the 

 most important are Camphora qfficinarum, which yields gum-camphor, 

 and the various species of Cinnamomum, from which are derived the cin- 

 namon and cassia of commerce. 



SASSAFRAS. 



Sassafras officinale Nees. — Sassafras. 



Description. — Flowers dioecious. Calyx 6-parted, spreading. Sterile 

 flowers with 9 stamens in 3 rows, the inner row with a pair of stalked 



Fig. 152.— Sassafras officinale. 



glands at the base of each ; anthers 4-celled, 4-valved. Fertile flowers with 

 6 rudimentary stamens and an ovoid ovary. Fruit a blue, ovoid drupe, 

 raised upon a reddish pedicel, which is thickened and cup-shaped at its 

 extremity. 



Northward commonly a tall shrub or small tree, 10 to 20 feet high ; 

 further south, and especially in rich soil, it often attains a height of 40 

 to 50 feet, with a diameter of 2 to 3 feet. Leaves 4 to 5 inches long, ovate 

 and entire, or variously lobed ; some of them regularly 3-lobed, others 

 mitten-shaped. Flowers greenish-yellow, naked, clustered in peduncled 



