Shape broadly spreading, to 50 ft. tall. Trunk slender. Bark light gray, divided into minute scales and shallowly furrowed. Buds silky. Leaves 1-3 ft. long, clustered at the tips of the branches, white-downy beneath. Flowers bell shaped, 8-12 in. across, blooming in May and June. Range: Gulf States to Ark. and e. Ky. Rare in w. N. C. This tropical looking tree, with astonishing great leaves and flowers, has no value but an ornamental one. EAR LEAVED UMBRELLA TREE (Magnolia Fraseri) is a slender little tree with smooth brown bark, smooth, lustrous, deep green leaves crowded at the ends of the branches, broadest near the end, with two little ear-like lobes near the narrowed base. Flowers 3-9 in. broad, creamy, sour-smelling, in May and June. Chiefly in the s. Appalachians (Ky. and Va. to Ala.) and s. to the Gulf (Miss., Fla.)
California Laurel
CALIFORNIA LAUREL
(Umbellularia californica)
Shape short trunked, with a dense crown, making a broad based, dome shaped thick tree 50-60 ft. tall. Bark drab or brown. Leaves evergreen, aromatic, thick, 3½-4½ in. long. Fruit olive-like, reddish or brown-purple when ripe, 1-1½ in. long; seed large. Range: Coast ranges from Ore. to s. Calif., also on the w. slopes of the Sierra Nevada. A magnificent unique tree, often forming groves of great beauty in cañons and mountain valleys. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, intricately patterned and is used for turned articles, especially furniture and interior finish. In the early lumbering days it was employed for the log railways and ox yokes. The seed, as sweet as chestnuts, was eaten roasted by the Indians. A decoction of the leaves is used for an insecticide.
Sassafras
SASSAFRAS
(Sassafras officinale)
Shrub or tree up to 120 ft. tall. Trunk reaching 7 ft. in diameter. Bark becoming very rugged, brown, broken into braided twisted ridges on young trees cracked into short blocks. Branches very crooked, ascending. Twigs bright green, very limber, the bark mucilaginous as are the Leaves which are paler beneath, aromatic when crushed, turning orange and scarlet in autumn. Flowers appearing with the leaves in early spring, greenish gold, the sexes on separate trees. Fruit a “stone-fruit”, very handsome slate blue on a thick red stalk, in Aug. Range: S. States to s. N. E., centr. Mich. and s. Ont., e. Ia. and Kans. The fragrant wood is used in boat building and cooperage. Oil of sassafras, used in medicine, is distilled from the bark and sassafras tea, brewed from the leaves, is a rustic spring tonic.
