S. tzumu (Hemsl.) Hemsl.
Common name: Chinese sassafras
Clinton T. Moore
Warnell School of Forest Resources
University of Georgia, Athens
Other common names:
- Phylum Angiospermae
- Subphylum Dicotyledones
- Class Monochlamydeae
- Order Daphnales
- Family Lauraceae
- Tribe Litseae
- Genus Sassafras
Identification
Taxonomy
The species was first described and placed under genus Lindera by Hemsley (1891). Hemsley
(1907) reclassified the genus.
Description
A small to medium-sized (20 m tall) tree. Leaves -- Alternate, deciduous, simple, smooth
margins; unlobed or 3-lobed, both forms on the same individual; 10-20 cm long; aromatic.
Flowers -- Small, dioecious, arranged on short racemes. Fruits -- Bluish black drupe 5 mm
across. Bark -- dark gray and deeply furrowed.
A more detailed description and a drawing of the leaves and flowers is found in Lee (1935).
Information on the habit of S. tzumu is not found in accessible works. However, the species is
believed to be similar to S. albidum in many characteristics (Rehder 1920), namely, growth on
drained, sandy soils along edges and forest openings. S. tzumu is distributed at high altitudes
(600-1200 m) throughout several provinces of southeast China and possibly in Vietnam.
Richardson (1966) describes S. tzumu as a specialty timber.
Distribution
Approximate distribution of S. tzumu (Source: Lee 1935)
Links to information on Sassafras tzumu
References
- Bentham, G., and J. D. Hooker. 1880. Genera plantarum. L. Reeve, London, England, UK.
- Hemsley, W. B. 1891. J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 26:392-393.
- Hemsley, W. B. 1907. Kew Bull. 1907:55-56.
- Lee, S.-C. 1935. Forest botany of China. The Commercial Press, Shanghai, China.
- Rehder, A. 1920. The American and Asiatic species of Sassafras. J. Arnold Arboretum
1:242-245.
- Richardson, S. D. 1966. Forestry in communist China. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore,
Maryland, USA. LC 65-26176.
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Last Updated on August 13, 1997 by Clinton T. Moore