Certain types of trees have inner bark (and, in some cases, other parts) that exude a distinct, usually pleasant, odor that is specific to that species.
These aromas are of enormous help in tree identification, often correspond to medicinal properties, and are rather exciting to encounter, since we don’t usually think of trees as fragrant (with the exception of evergreens, which aren’t covered here). You have to scratch twigs and/or crush leaves to get at the smell.
Sassafras – Easy to identify visually because it has three leaf shapes on a single tree: oval, mitten-shaped, and three-lobed. The leaves, inner bark, roots, and yellow spring flowers all have a pleasing medicinal scent. Sassafras root is a traditional spring cleansing herb and a major component of the original root beer. The leaves can be used to make tea, even after they have turned yellow.
Ailanthus – Mostly found in cities, this fast-growing tree has compound leaves, i.e., long leaves with many small leaflets, and flat, shiny, gray bark with diamond patterns. The leaves and inner bark smell like peanut butter.
Black walnut – Leaves look similar to ailanthus, except that some of the leaves end with two leaflets at angles rather than one leaflet sticking straight out. The inner bark and crushed leaves have a spicy smell, as do the spherical husks of the large nuts. The nuts are edible, and the husks have anti-fungal properties. Handling the husks will dye your hands in shades varying from yellow to black, and they may be used as fabric dye.
Butternut – Similar to black walnut, except that twigs are downy, and nuts are oblong, with sticky husks.
Sweet birch – Oval leaves with tiny teeth, smooth dark bark with short, raised horizontal lines. Inner bark smells of wintergreen and is used to treat arthritis, muscle aches, bladder infections.
Yellow/silver birch – Similar to sweet birch except the bark is silvery-yellow and peeling, and the fragrance is milder.
Wild/black cherry – Long, narrow leaves and smooth, dark, often reddish-brown bark with short, raised horizontal lines. When young, the bark resembles sweet birch, but when it’s older it breaks up into scales about the size of a silver dollar. The inner bark has a bitter almond smell and is a traditional cough remedy. The late summer cherry fruits are small, almost black when ripe, and edible, with a large pit and thin layer of pulp.
Spicebush – Not a tree but a shrub, with multiple slender trunks. In spring, it has early, tiny yellow flowers before the oval leaves appear. In fall, the scarlet berries, like the flowers, leaves, and bark, are aromatic, distinguishing it from other red-berry shrubs like deerberry and winterberry. The berries were used by settlers as a cooking herb resembling allspice. Leaves and bark can be used to make a pleasant-tasting tea.
