SÁSSAFRAS. The Sassafras.

Sassafras officinÀle Nees and Ebermaier. Sassafras. Red Sassafras. White Sassafras. Plate 69. Small to large trees; bark aromatic, smooth on young trees, reddish-brown and deeply furrowed on old trees, resembling that of black walnut; branchlets yellowish-green, splotched more or less with sooty spots; twigs at first more or less hairy, soon becoming smooth or remaining more or less hairy until autumn, more or less glaucous, especially the smooth forms; buds more or less pubescent, the axillary ones usually more or less hairy, the outer scales of the terminal one usually smooth and glaucous; leaves simple, alternate, ovate, elliptic to obovate, blades 5-16 cm. long, entire or with 1-5 lobes, narrowed at the base, the apex and terminal of the lobes acute, both surfaces hairy when they expand, generally becoming smooth above and beneath, or more often remaining more or less pubescent beneath, the midrib and two lateral veins usually prominent beneath; petioles 0.5-5 cm. long, hairy at first, becoming smooth or more often retaining some pubescence; flowers appear before or with the leaves in April or May, small, yellow or greenish, the male and female generally on different trees, on racemes up to 4 cm. long; flower stalks usually pubescent, sometimes smooth; fruit an oblong, blue-black, glaucous berry which matures late in summer; fruit generally 7-10 mm. long, on a stalk including the pedicel and raceme up to 9 cm. long.

Plate 69

Distribution.—Maine, southern Ontario to Iowa and south to Florida and west to Texas. No doubt it was formerly found in every county of Indiana. In the northern part of the State it is more local in its distribution than in the southern counties. In the northern counties where it is local it is found in colonies on sandy or clayey ridges. Sassafras is usually considered an indicator of poorer soils, hence, in the central counties it is often very local. It is frequent to common throughout the hilly counties of the southern part of the State. In this part of the State it becomes a pernicious weed tree. It soon invades fence rows and fallow fields, and is extremely difficult to kill out. It is rarely found in wet situations; however, in Sullivan and Clay Counties large trees have been observed in low alluvial ground, associated with the white elm, etc.

Remarks.—Wood light, soft, coarse-grained, aromatic, heartwood brownish. In our area sassafras wood is used principally for posts and crossties. The roots contain a volatile oil which is much used in medicine and perfumery. Every one is familiar with the sassafras peddler who in the Spring sells a small bundle of roots or bark for making sassafras tea. The tea is reputed "to thin the blood." The aromatic character of the wood led the earliest inhabitants to attribute many medicinal and other qualities to the wood which, in many instances bordered on superstition. In some of the southern States bedsteads were made of sassafras with the belief that they would produce sounder sleep. Floors were made of sassafras to keep out the rats and mice. Perches of chicken houses were made of sassafras poles to keep off the lice. To successfully make soap, it was necessary to stir the contents of the kettle with a sassafras stick.

The sassafras is usually about one-fourth of a meter in diameter. However, on the Charles Hole farm about three miles southeast of Butlerville grew two of the largest trees of which we have record. The trees grew within seven meters of each other on a slope now grown up with large sugar maple. They were cut by Mr. Hole's father, on whose farm they were located. The largest was cut in the later sixties and the smaller in the early seventies. The stumps were seen by the writer in 1918. Both are now hollow although the outside is quite solid after having been cut about fifty years. Chips were cut from the root spurs and the wood was almost as aromatic as if the tree had just been cut. "The stumps have been burned at least three times," says Mr. Hole, yet the smaller now measures 1.09 m. (43 inches) in diameter at a meter high. The largest stump now measures 1.22 m. (48 inches), in diameter at a meter high. Mr. Hole says that the smallest tree had a clear hole of at least 18 meters, and the largest tree was .92 m. (36 inches) in diameter 20 meters from the stump.

Sassafras deserves more consideration than it has received as a shade and ornamental tree. The autumnal coloring of its foliage is scarcely surpassed by any tree; and it is free from injurious insect pests. It adapts itself to almost all kinds of soils, and grows rapidly. It is, however, transplanted with difficulty; this means only more care in digging the tree and planting it.

Commonly the sassafras is classed as red and white sassafras. The roots of the white sassafras are said to be whiter, the aroma of the wood has a suggestion of camphor, and the wood is less durable. This belief is common throughout the area of its distribution, but so far as the writer knows, no scientific work has been published to verify this division of the species.

Sassafras is extremely variable, but most botanical authors have considered the many variations as one species. Nuttall in 1818 was the first author to make a division of the forms, and he has been followed by some recent authors. Nuttall separated those forms with smooth twigs, buds, and under surface of leaves, from those with pubescent twigs, buds, and under surface of leaves. Nieuwland[50] separates a variety from the smooth forms which he calls Sassafras albida variety glauca, and reports it as occurring in the counties in the vicinity of Lake Michigan.

The writer has at hand 46 specimens from 41 counties in Indiana, including all of the Lake Michigan Counties, and he has not been able to find a single character that is constant enough to make a division of our forms, consequently all the Indiana forms are included under one and the old name for sassafras.

Plate 70