Description: This tree is typically 30-60' tall with trunks 1-2' across, although specimens up to 100' with even wider trunks occasionally occur. The crown of each tree is roughly ovoid in shape with fairly short spreading branches. The trunk bark of older trees is gray-brown, irregularly furrowed, and rough, while the bark of large branches is similar, except more smooth. Small branches are greenish yellow or greenish brown, terete, and smooth with scattered gray lenticels, while newly developed shoots are pale green to greenish red, terete, and slightly pubescent. The alternate leaves develop from new shoots; they are up to 6" long and 4" across and either unlobed, two-lobed, or three-lobed. Unlobed leaves are ovate, while two-lobed leaves have one large lobe and a smaller side lobe resembling the shape of a mitten. Three-lobed leaves have a large central lobe and two smaller side lobes. All leaf lobes are slightly more long in length than they are across, and their tips are blunt or rounded. The leaf bases are usually wedge-shaped, although sometimes they are well-rounded. The upper leaf surfaces are medium green to yellowish green and glabrous, while their lower surfaces are pale green and glabrous to pubescent. The slender petioles are up to 1" long and light green to red.
The yellowish
flowers bloom in tight clusters at the tips of twigs shortly before or
during the early development of the leaves. Because Sassafras is
dioecious, male and female flowers develop on separate trees.
Individual male flowers are about 1/3" (8 mm.) across, consisting of 6
greenish
yellow to yellow petaloid sepals and 9 stamens with yellow anthers. The
sepals are oblong in shape. The inner 3 stamens have paired glands at
their bases. Individual female flowers are about 1/3" (8 mm.) across,
consisting of 6 greenish yellow to yellow petaloid sepals, a central
pistil, and 6 small stamens (staminodia) that are sterile. The blooming
period occurs during mid-spring and lasts about 2 weeks. Fertile female
flowers are replaced by ovoid drupes about 1/3" (8 mm.) long that
become dark blue when they are ripe. Each drupe contains a
single seed. The drupes are arranged in corymb-like racemes up to 2"
long. When the drupes are ripe, the pedicels become bright red; each
pedicel develops a cup-like shape underneath each drupe. The root
system produces widely spreading lateral roots that occasionally
develop clonal offsets. During the autumn, the leaves acquire
attractive coloration consisting of yellow, orange, or red.
Cultivation:
The preference is full or partial sun, mesic to dry mesic conditions,
and soil consisting of sandy loam. However, Sassafras also adapts to
soil containing loam, clay-loam, or rocky material. Its growth and
development is
moderately fast, forming fruiting trees in about 10 years. The seeds
require exposure to cold temperatures for 90-120 days before they will
germinate. It is possible to propagate new trees from pieces of the
lateral roots, particularly when they have above-ground shoots.
Sassafras is allelopathic, releasing several compounds that inhibit the
growth and development of neighboring plants.
Range & Habitat:
The native Sassafras is a common tree that is found primarily in
southern and
central Illinois; it is absent to uncommon in the northern section of
the state (see Distribution
Map). There is some evidence that its range is expanding
northward. Habitats include open woodlands and sandy woodlands, thinly
wooded bluffs, typical savannas and sandy savannas, woodland borders,
typical thickets and sandy thickets, stabilized sand dunes with woody
vegetation, rocky glades, fence rows, powerline clearances in wooded
areas, and abandoned fields. Sassafras is a pioneer tree that spreads
to semi-open areas with reduced competition. In wooded areas, it
benefits from wind-storms and ice-storms that knock over large canopy
trees.
Faunal Associations:
The flowers are cross-pollinated primarily by small bees (Halictid,
Andrenid) and a variety of flies. Fly visitors include Syrphid flies,
march flies, dance flies, Tachinid flies, flesh flies, blow flies, and
Muscid flies. Less common visitors include sawflies, Ichneumonid wasps,
and beetles. These floral visitors suck nectar from the flowers
primarily, although some bees collect pollen for their larvae, while
some flies and beetles may feed on the pollen. Other insects feed on
the leaves and other parts of Sassafras. Such insects include the
caterpillars of Papilio troilus (Spicebush
Swallowtail), Papilio glaucus (Tiger Swallowtail),
and several moths (see Moth Table). Other insect feeders
include Odontopus calceatus (Yellow Poplar Weevil),
the leafhopper Jikradia olitorius, and the
long-horned beetle, Oberea ruficollis (Sassafras
Borer). Some birds and mammals also feed on various parts of Sassafras.
The Bobwhite, Wild Turkey, and many songbirds eat the drupes (see Bird Table),
spreading the seeds to new locations. The Black Bear and Fox Squirrel
also eat the drupes to a limited extent, while White-Tailed Deer browse
on the twigs and foliage, and the Cottontail Rabbit gnaws on the bark
and browses on any young shoots that are within its reach.
Photographic
Location:
The photograph of the male flowers was taken during the spring in a
woodland opening in east central Illinois, while the remaining
photographs were taken of a tree that was located at the edge of a
woodland in Vermilion County, Illinois.
Comments:
Sassafras is a wonderful tree that produces flowers early in the spring
and it has oddly shaped leaves that assume attractive colors during the
fall. If the bark of young smooth branches is scratched, it releases an
attractive spicy odor. The roots of Sassafras have been used in making
tea and flavoring root beer, but there is some evidence that it may be
carcinogenic. Because of its distinctive leaves and aromatic greenish
branches, Sassafras is easy to identify in the field. It is related to
the smaller Lindera benzoin (Spicebush), which has
unlobed leaves and small red fruits.