White Sassafras, Ague Tree, Cinnamon Wood, Mitten Tree, Saloop, Smelling Stick
Family:
Lauraceae (Laurel Family)
Plant Ecoregion Distribution Map
East Central Texas Plains, Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes, Western Gulf Coastal Plain
Northern Post Oak Savanna, Northern Prairie Outliers
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Marshes
Flatwoods, Floodplains and Low Terraces3, Pleistocene Fluvial Terraces, Red River Bottomlands, Southern Tertiary Uplands, Tertiary Uplands
Plant Characteristics
Growth Form
Tree
Height
15
to
20
ft.
Spread
10
to
15
ft.
Leaf Retention
Deciduous
Lifespan
Perennial
Habitat and Care Requirements
Soil Type(s)
Sand, Loam, Acid, Well Drained
Light Requirement
Sun, Part Shade
Water Requirement
Medium
Native Habitat
Woodland
Bloom and Attraction
Bloom Color
Yellow, Green, Brown
Bloom Season
Spring
Seasonal Interest
Fruit, Fall Color, Larval Host
Wildlife Benefit
Butterflies, Birds
Maintenance
May colonize to form thicket. Propagation: Seed, Root cuttings. Sucker division.
Comments
Blooms March-May. Aromatic small tree will sucker; three distinct leaf patterns: unlobed oval, mitten-shaped, and three-pronged turn red, orange, peach and yellow in fall. Little bunches of yellow flowers in spring seem to float in the air. Warning: bark is poisonous. Fall fruits gobbled by many birds. Larval Host: Spicebush Swallowtail, Tiger Swallowtail, Palamedes butterflies, Pale Swallowtail.
1) Griffith, Bryce, Omernick & Rodgers (2007). Ecoregions of Texas. 2) Miller, George O., Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas 2nd Ed., 2013, pg 53. 3) Wasowski and Wasowski, Native Texas Plants Landscaping Region by Region, 1991, pg. 302. 4) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SAAL5. 5) https://portal.torcherbaria.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Sassafras+albidum&formsubmit=Search+Terms. 6) http://bonap.net/TDC/Image/Map?taxonType=Species&taxonId=13889&locationType=County&mapType=Normal, 7) https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=18158#null
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