SYMPLOCACEAE - - Sweetleaf Family

Symplocos tinctoria (Linnaeus) L'Heritier — Sweetleaf, Horsesugar

Habitat:

Moist bottomland forests, pocosin edges, mesic forests, ridgetop forests, sandhills. The range in our area is discontinuous and interesting. The leaves have a subcoriaceous and rather evergreen appearance, but are (in our area) only semi-evergreen. As the name implies, the leaves are somewhat sweet, but the sweetness seems variable from plant to plant, season to season, and taster to taster. Whether sweet or not, the “green apple” taste is distinctive and is helpful (once learned) in distinguishing this rather nondescript shrub or small tree. Where protected from fire, S. tinctoria can reach considerable size, up to 20 cm in diameter and 10 m tall, with longitudinally striped bark.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The range of Symplocos tinctoria (Sweetleaf, Horsesugar)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Symplocos tinctoria (Sweetleaf, Horsesugar)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.