Sweetleaf, Symplocos tinctoria, is also known as
horse-sugar since it has sweet leaves, particularly along the midvein, and it will be quickly eliminated if any exist where horses are kept
enclosed.The range reaches north to at
least Buck’s PocketState Park while a dethroned Alabama
state champion is found at CherokeeRockVillage
between the West Side Block and Holiday Block. The adjacent rocks are higher than this tree, which is 34 feet tall, has a
32 inch girth, and an average limb spread of 25 feet, but is was superseded as the state champion after only one year by a tree that is 63 feet tall, 25 inches in circumference, and has an average limb spread of 20 feet.For
the most part sweetleaf is a nondescript tree or shrub, but the leaves are
tardily deciduous, therefore, some leaves are usually present on the tree
throughout most of the winter and only fall just before new leaves are put
on in the spring just like live oak, Quercus
virginiana.The flowers are yellow with the stamens being the most noticeable feature, but greenish yellow galls that form
on the leaves and stems are often mistaken for the flowers and/or fruit.
