SASSAFRAS
Sassafras variifolium, (Salis.) Kuntze.
Form.—Height 40-50 feet, diameter 1-3 feet; trunk usually short, stout, and bearing an open crown of contorted branches.
Leaves.—Alternate, simple, ovate in outline, entire, or 2-5 lobed, 4-6 inches long, smooth, dark green above, paler beneath.
Flowers.—May, with the leaves; dioecious; both sexes about ½ inch long, greenish yellow, in few-flowered, drooping racemes.
Fruit.—Matures in early autumn; a dark blue, berry-like drupe, one-third inch long, borne on a bright red thickened stalk with persistent calyx.
Bark.—Rough, with shallow fissures and flat-topped connected ridges, light brown.
Wood.—Soft, weak, brittle, durable in the soil, aromatic, dull orange-brown with thin lighter sapwood.