Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-09, страница 73

The pictures above show the bark of a Striped Maple (left) alongside the bark of a Sassafras (right).

The bark on young saplings (shown above to the right.) tends to develop furrows early and matures to a reddish brown, deeply furrowed pattern that can be easily confused with Walnut, Tupelo. American elm, Chestnut oak, and Butternut to some extent.

If you have ever studied trees in your life and lived within the range of this spccics, you will be familiar with the three fingers, thumb, and mitten shapes. Some other trees may also have variants in terms of leaf shapes, but Sassafras is one of only a few spccics that normally has three different shapes growing on the same tree. The others arc the three species of Mulberry, but their leaves are coarse on the top surface with a saw-toothed fringe, and hairy underneath. Sassafras, on the other hand, is smooth, not fringed, and velvety underneath. The leaves are quite fragrant when crushed, and when dried and powdered, they become File, a key ingredient in Creole and Cajun cooking.

The key to identification, however, is the reddish color and the spicy odor when you break the surface of the bark.

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