THE TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 105 



the Lower Districts. It is 60 to 80 feet high. The 

 leaves are 5 to 8 inches long, with a few large teeth 

 on the edges, and a soft whitish down underneath. 

 The fruit is an inch or more long, and of a deep blue 

 color. The wood is like that of the two preceding, 

 but is softer, and is indeed the softest wood Ave have. 

 As it does not split and is very easily worked, it is 

 manufactured into light bowls and trays. The roots 

 are used for making floats to buoy seines, and are a 

 very fair substitute for cork where elasticity is not 

 important. 



Sassafras. (Sassafras officinale, Nees.) — No 

 plant in the United States is perhaps more exten- 

 sively diffused than this. In favorable soils it is 40 

 to 50 feet high, while in poor ground and in the bor- 

 ders of old fields it flowers at the height of 4 to 6 

 feet. It is common in the Lower and Middle Dis- 

 tricts, but is rare in the more elevated parts of 

 the Upper. It is found of largest dimensions in 

 the Middle District. What is known as the White 

 Sassafras prevails in the Lower District, the Bed 

 Sassafras in the others, their differences depending 

 apparently upon a difference of soil. The wood is 

 said to be durable, and is used for fence posts as 

 well as for the rafters and joists of buildings. It is 

 said also to be free from attacks of worms, and that 

 bedsteads made of it are never infested by insects. 

 The roots, and also the flowers, are the basis of some 

 diet drinks which are thought by some to be service- 

 able to the human system in Spring and Summer. 



