Sassafras trees score touchdowns with fun football themes
With the arrival of fall comes football season and football season brings to mind the Sassafras tree and its unique leaf shapes. If you take a walk on the White Oak Trace trail behind the Missouri Department of Conservation's Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center, you'll find an opportunity to identify sassafras trees. That's where I was when Nature Center manager Sara Turner gave me a quick lesson on how to identify it and why thinking about football can help.
This tree is fun to identify because its leaves come in three different shapes. The first leaf shape is easy to identify because it looks like a football. The second leaf shape is divided into three lobes that resemble a referee calling a touchdown. The last leaf shape on a sassafras tree looks like a mitten, which is easy to remember because football season lasts into the colder months when you'll have to wear your mittens. When you see a tree with leaves that have all three of these shapes, you'll remember it's a sassafras tree because "sassy cheerleaders" are at football games.
But of course there's more to know about this tree than its leaf shapes. That's just the beginning. Sassafras was used for medicinal purposes by Native Americans. They would rub sassafras leaves directly into wounds and they'd use it to treat acne and high fevers. Sassafras has a very pleasant, citrusy smell, which makes it easy to see why it was useful to flavor other medicines before the 20th century. It's useful for wildlife, too. Birds and mammals eat the leaves, bark and fruits. Its bark is specifically useful to rabbits in the colder months when food is scarce.
Sassafras trees are just one thing to look for and learn about on your woodland walks this fall. Next time you're out, look for leaves that are shaped like footballs, mittens and football referees and remember that sassy cheerleaders are at football games. Then you'll remember the name of the tree behind the leaves. It's a sassafras tree.
For more nature knowledge like this, head over to the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center for fun and free programs. Check out the calendar of events at www.mdc.mo.gov/CapeNatureCenter or text nature to 91212 to receive text reminders on your cell phone.
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