A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Symplocos tinctoria
A deciduous or weakly evergreen shrub or small tree to 18 ft. that usually flowers before the leaves appear. The compact clusters of small, fragrant, cream-colored flowers are borne in profusion along the branches of the previous season’s growth. Numerous stamens make the blooms particularly showy. Shrub or small tree with short trunk, open crown of spreading branches, and foliage with sweetish taste.
Sandy thickets; alluvial woods; stream banks in eastern United States. This one was photographed at Silver Bluff Audubon Center near Jackson (Aiken County), SC.
It's also called Horsesugar, Common sweetleaf, Sweetleaf, and Yellowwood. The common names Sweetleaf and Horsesugar refer to the tasty foliage, which livestock eat greedily. The name Yellowwood and the Latin species name allude to a yellow dye once obtained from the bark and leaves. The bark, like others with bitter aromatic properties, was used by early settlers as a tonic. The leaves are tasty.
Spotted on Mar 17, 2012
Submitted on Mar 29, 2013
No Comments