Part 62

Distinguishing Features: The best characteristics to identify this small tree are the narrow leaves with the teeth relatively far apart.

BLACK WILLOW Salix nigra Marsh.

Growth Form: Medium to large tree up to 90 feet tall; trunk diameter up to three feet; crown usually round-topped, but sometimes irregular.

Bark: Rough, furrowed, forming elongated, vertical, rather tight scales.

Twigs: Slender, olive-green, smooth; leaf scars alternate, U-shaped, with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Small, oblong, reddish-brown, up to one-eighth inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades narrowly lance-shaped, usually curved, long-pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering at the base, up to 6 inches long, finely toothed along the edges, green and shiny on the upper surface, smooth or hairy on the veins of the lower surface; leafstalks short, often surrounded at the base by a pair of green leaf-like stipules.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate flowers borne on separate trees, minute, crowded in elongated catkins, appearing as the leaves begin to unfold.

Fruit: Several narrow, flask-shaped, reddish-brown capsules up to one-eighth inch long, crowded in elongated clusters.

Wood: Light weight, soft, not strong.

Uses: Flooring, boxes, crates, fuel.

Habitat: Wet ground, frequently along rivers and streams.

Range: New Brunswick across to Ontario, south to Texas, east to Florida.

Distinguishing Features: The narrow lance-shaped leaves which are green on the lower surface and which have many fine teeth along the edges distinguish this willow from other willows in Illinois.

SASSAFRAS Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees

Other Names: White Sassafras; Red Sassafras.

Growth Form: Usually small to moderate tree up to 40 feet tall, but rarely as much as 80 feet tall; trunk diameter usually up to 2 feet, rarely as much as six feet; crown flat-topped, irregular, oblong.

Bark: Greenish-gray when young, becoming deeply furrowed and dark reddish-brown when older.

Twigs: Slender, green, smooth, aromatic; leaf scars alternate, small, half-round, usually with three bundle traces.

Buds: Ovoid, scarcely pointed at the tip, greenish, up to one-fourth inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades of three different shapes, some 3-lobed, some 2-lobed, some unlobed, tapering to the base, up to 6 inches long, without teeth along the edges, green and smooth on the upper surface, paler and either smooth or hairy on the lower surface. The leaves turn brilliant shades of orange, red, and yellow in the autumn.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate flowers borne on separate trees, in few-flowered clusters as the leaves begin to unfold, each flower about ⅓ inch long, greenish-yellow.

Fruit: Dark blue berries about one-third inch long in deep red cups and on stalks up to 2 inches long.

Wood: Soft, brittle, orange-brown.

Uses: Fence posts; the roots are strongly aromatic and are dug, dried, and used in the making of sassafras tea.

Habitat: Roadsides, old fields, woods.

Range: Maine across to Michigan and (formerly) Wisconsin, south to Texas, east to Florida.

Distinguishing Features: The Sassafras is distinguished by its distinctively shaped, aromatic leaves and its green twigs.