Description ³

Lauraceae | sassafras

Habitat: Woods and thickets.

Leaves: Elliptic to ovate, to 6" or more long and 4" across, untoothed but sometimes with a lobe on one or both sides, bright green above, blue-green and smooth beneath, turning yellow to orange or purple in autumn, aromatic.

Bark: Red-brown, thick, furrowed, aromatic.

Flowers: Males and females very small, yellow or greenish yellow, without petals, in small clusters or short racemes on separate plants in spring.

Fruit: An egg-shaped deep blue berry, 3/4" long.

Note: Leaves aromatic - fruity pebbles scent.

Coombes, A. J. (1992). Trees. New York: Dorling Kindersley.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) floracliff, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by floracliff
2. (c) floracliff, all rights reserved, uploaded by floracliff
3. (c) floracliff, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• OregonFlora.org
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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