Description of Plant

Leaf: 7.5 - 13 cm in length and 4-10 cm in width. Leaves are in three different shapes: elliptical, mitten shaped with two lobes, or with three broad blunt lobes. The leaves are shiny green on top and paler and often hairy underneath. The leaves turn yellow, orange, or red in autumn.

Flower: The male and female flowers are usually found on separate trees. The flowers are a yellow green and are found clustered at the end of the leafless twigs in the early spring.

Fruit: Dark berries in a red cup on a long red stalk; each berry contains a shiny brown seed.

Twig: Greenish brown, slender, and sometimes hairy.

Bark: Brownish-gray with thick furrows.

Form: This is a tree with a spreading crown of short, stout branches that grows from 30-60 feet in height. The tree is very aromatic with leaves in different shapes.

Discussion of Plant

The roots and bark of this tree have been used to flavor root beer. The oil from the roots and bark are also used to perfume soap and to make sassafras tea. The colonists thought that the Sassafras tree had special medicinal properties and shipped large quantities of these trees back to Europe. These trees are a member of the family of tropical woods. The twigs and leafstalks have a pleasant, spicy taste.

Copyright

© Sue Grabowski, Gail Slowinski, Carl Schurz High School 2003

References

Coombes, Allen, J, Smithsonian Handbook of Trees, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2002.

Little, Elbert, L., Field Guide to Trees, Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1980.

Symonds, George, W.D., The Tree Identification Book, Quill Publishing, New York, N.Y. 1958.