Occasionally, somebody asks me that ridiculous question: “What’s your favorite tree?” As if I could choose just one. If pushed to decide, however, I usually find myself saying, “Sassafras.”

Sassafras albidum is native from Massachusetts and Michigan in the north to the eastern edge of Oklahoma in the west and to North Florida in the south.

It flourishes in the Cincinnati area, which is where it seduced me with its many charms. The spicy-scented foliage, variously shaped like ovals, mittens, or three-toed dinosaur tracks—sometimes all on the same branch—is certainly one of its endearing qualities.