WILDLIFE OF THE WEEK
Sassafras
Under orders from naturalist friends in Georgia to take fall foliage pictures during a brief visit to Greater Boston (Massachusetts), I found myself snapping photos of especially pretty trees and shrubs during my sunny Fall walks this past weekend. These included one familiar face, and a favorite Eastern understory shrub/tree of mine: Sassafras (Sassafras albidum). This handsome plant, one of only three living species in its genus (its two cousins live in China and Taiwan) delivers year round, with beautiful Fall colors (see upper left photo), a fascinating variety of leaf shape (see upper right), and acting as a summertime food plant for the gorgeous Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus), a large and impressive Eastern butterfly. The wood and leaves give off a delightful scent that reminds me of orange tic-tacs (trying crushing up a leaf in summer!), and the diverse oils and chemicals in this fragrant mix were a traditional ingredient in American rootbeer. As you might imagine, Indigenous peoples in Eastern North America also found a great multitude of medicinal uses for this understory apothecary. The plant also has a gorgeous and durable, if often somewhat gnarled wood, that was once very popular with woodworkers for furniture.
Upper left: A two-lobed sassafras leaf showing Fall colors in Needham, Massachusetts. Upper right: Three-lobed and one-lobed leaves on a juvenile sassafras in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. Below: an adult spicebush swallowtail feeding on nectar from a beebalm (Monarda) plant. This striking, large butterfly probably spent much of its early life munching on sassafras leaves.
LATEST BLOG POST
What are rhino’s horns made of?
The latest Science Deep Dive post, thanks to a reader request, is on the composition of rhino horns. Conservation organizations and nature fact lovers alike love parroting that rhino horn is made of the same stuff as our fingernails. But is that really true, or is there more to the story? Learn all about these amazing animal weapons and the beasts they’re attached to in this latest post.
RECOMMENDED READING
For Kids:
The Ultimate Rhino BookConservation and memoir:
The Last Rhinos, by Anthony and SpenceNatural History:
The Rhinoceros and the Megatherium by Juan Pimentel
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A deep-dive into the natural history of the majestic headgear worn by many of nature’s mammalian heavyweights.
NATURALIST WORD OF THE WEEK
Esker (n.) - A long, often winding ridge of gravel or sediment deposited by rivers running through ancient glaciers. These are common in Northern areas like New England, where they make excellent structure for hiking trails. People often confuse them with artificial structures like railroad embankments, but they are ancient geological features.
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