Scientific Name:
Sassafras albidum
Pronunciation:
SASS-uh-frass AL-bi-dum
Common Name:
sassafras
Family Name:
Lauraceae
Plant Type:
Tree - deciduous
Key ID Features:
Leaves alternate, elliptic when unlobed to ovate or obovate when two or three-lobed (often on the same branch), 5-10cm wide by 10-15cm long on short petioles; florets in pendulous racemes up to 5cm long in early spring shortly before the leaves appear, yellow to greenish-yellow, with 5-6 tepals; drupes dark blue-black drupe 1cm long on a red fleshy club-shaped pedicel 2cm long, ripening in late summer. Winter ID: bark and twigs with cinnamon-like aroma when cut; alternating buds about 6mm long.
Habit:
Stiffly upright
Form:
Pyramidal - narrowly
Texture:
Coarse
Mature Height:
7 - 10m
Mature Spread:
5 - 7m
Growth Rate:
Moderate
Origin:
Canada - eastern
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Acidic, Humus rich, Rocky or gravelly or dry, Well-drained
Landscape Uses:
Attract birds, Fall interest, Specimen plant, Woodland margin
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple, Lobed
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Pinnate venation, Palmate venation
Surfaces:
Glabrous
Colour in Summer:
Green, Green-yellow
Colour in Fall:
Yellow, Red
Shapes:
Obovate
Apices:
Acute, Rounded
Bases:
Cuneate
Margins:
Entire
Additional Info:
Spectacular fall colour
Inflorescence Type:
Flowers clustered, Corymb-like
Flower Morphology:
Dioecious plant
Ovary Position:
Superior
Colour (petals):
Showy, Yellow, Green-yellow
Flower Time at Peak:
Apr, May
Additional Info:
Male florets have nine stamens, female florets with six aborted stamens and a 2-3mm long style on a superior ovary; insect pollenated
Fruit Type:
Drupe
Fruit Colour:
Blue, Black
Fruiting Time:
Aug, Sep
Bark Morphology:
Deeply fissured
Bark or Stem Colour:
Red, Brown
Pest Susceptibility:
(Pest resistant, Disease resistant, Deer resistant, Drought tolerant)
