Symplocos tinctoria

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Symplocaceae
Genus: Symplocos
Species:
S. tinctoria
Binomial name
Symplocos tinctoria
(L.) L'Her.

Symplocos tinctoria (the common sweetleaf,[3] horse-sugar, or yellowwood) is a deciduous or evergreen shrub or tree. It is recognized by pith of twigs chambered; by foliage not notably aromatic when bruised, leaves finely hairy beneath. Shrubs or trees to 17 m tall by 36 cm diameter at breast height. The largest first-year twigs are under 3 mm across, terminal buds with acute tip, scales ciliate. Leaves are 7–15 cm long, margin entire or occasionally some teeth on the apical half, with a sweet taste that may be faint in old leaves. It is conspicuous when in flower; flowers opening before new leaves develop, fragrant, in clusters from axils of previous year's leaves or from just above the leaf scars if the leaves have fallen; the petals are creamy yellow to yellow, with one pistil. Fruits nearly cylindrical to ellipsoid drupes 8–12 mm long, with thin pulp and a hard stone containing 1 seed; the tip usually retaining parts of the sepals. Foliage is relished by browsing wildlife. A yellow dye may be obtained from bark and leaves. It flowers Mar to May.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Symplocos tinctoria is native to the southern and eastern United States, to an area from Oklahoma east to Florida and north to Maryland.[5] Occasional, plants are often scattered; uncommonly grouped; thin to dense woods of slopes, bluffs, broad-leaf woods of sandy soils, stream borders and stable dunes. It is the only representative of the genus in North America.

Ecology

The foliage is relished by browsing wildlife.[6] The branches are parasitised by galls of Exobasidium symploci that visually resemble fruits of the plant.[7]

Uses

A yellow dye was once made from the bark and leaves. The bark was used as a tonic by early American settlers.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Symplocos tinctoria". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  2. ↑ IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group & Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) (2020). "Symplocos tinctoria". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T152857812A152905470. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  3. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Symplocos tinctoria". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Trees of the Southeastern United States by Wilbur Howard Duncan and Marion Bennett Duncan, 1988, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia, ISBN 0-8203-0954-0
  5. ↑ "Symplocos tinctoria". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  6. 1 2 Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 643. ISBN 0-394-50760-6.
  7. ↑ "Symplocos tinctoria (Horsesugar, Horse-sugar, Sweetleaf) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
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