Trees of Indiana: First Revised Edition (Publication No. 13, Department of Conservation, State of Indiana)Deam, Charles Clemon
Science
Trees of Indiana: First Revised Edition (Publication No. 13, Department of Conservation, State of Indiana)
Deam, Charles Clemon
Trees -- Indiana
=Distribution.=--Maine, southern Ontario to Iowa and south to Florida
and west to Texas. No doubt it was formerly found in every county of
Indiana. In the northern part of the State it is more local in its
distribution than in the southern counties. In the northern counties
where it is local it is found in colonies on sandy or clayey ridges.
Sassafras is usually considered an indicator of poorer soils, hence, in
the central counties it is often very local. It is frequent to common
throughout the hilly counties of the southern part of the State. In this
part of the State it becomes a pernicious weed tree. It soon invades
fence rows and fallow fields, and is extremely difficult to kill out. It
is rarely found in wet situations; however, in Sullivan and Clay
Counties large trees have been observed in low alluvial ground,
associated with the white elm, etc.
=Remarks.=--Wood light, soft, coarse-grained, aromatic, heartwood
brownish. In our area sassafras wood is used principally for posts and
crossties. The roots contain a volatile oil which is much used in
medicine and perfumery. Every one is familiar with the sassafras peddler
who in the Spring sells a small bundle of roots or bark for making
sassafras tea. The tea is reputed "to thin the blood." The aromatic
character of the wood led the earliest inhabitants to attribute many
medicinal and other qualities to the wood which, in many instances
bordered on superstition. In some of the southern States bedsteads were
made of sassafras with the belief that they would produce sounder sleep.
Floors were made of sassafras to keep out the rats and mice. Perches of
chicken houses were made of sassafras poles to keep off the lice. To
successfully make soap, it was necessary to stir the contents of the
kettle with a sassafras stick.
The sassafras is usually about one-fourth of a meter in diameter.
However, on the Charles Hole farm about three miles southeast of
Butlerville grew two of the largest trees of which we have record. The
trees grew within seven meters of each other on a slope now grown up
with large sugar maple. They were cut by Mr. Hole's father, on whose
farm they were located. The largest was cut in the later sixties and the
smaller in the early seventies. The stumps were seen by the writer in
1918. Both are now hollow although the outside is quite solid after
having been cut about fifty years. Chips were cut from the root spurs
and the wood was almost as aromatic as if the tree had just been cut.
"The stumps have been burned at least three times," says Mr. Hole, yet
the smaller now measures 1.09 m. (43 inches) in diameter at a meter
high. The largest stump now measures 1.22 m. (48 inches), in diameter at
a meter high. Mr. Hole says that the smallest tree had a clear hole of
at least 18 meters, and the largest tree was .92 m. (36 inches) in
diameter 20 meters from the stump.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account