Amy Ann Speckhart, age 15, of Payson, Illinois, for her question:

Where does the sassafras tree grow?

You are sure to find at least one sassafras tree growing, in the lush green Connecticut woods around Bridgeport. It is a medium sized tree all dressed in summer finery of an unforgettable green. Bright green are its flat spreading leaves, bright green are the sleeves on its twigs and bright green is the color of the stock¬ing on its trunk. When you identify it, you will never forget it. Then you may spot it growing in the woods anywhere from Maine, way south to Florida and westward across the land as far as Iowa. A smaller variety of the sassafras tree often grows beside country roads that wander away from the crowds.

The various sassafras trees and shrubs belong to the lovely laurel family. They have first cousins living in China and several relatives make their homes in Australia on the other side of the globe. All of them are fragrant and soaps are perfumed with oil extracted from their woody tissues. Sometimes their soft white wood is used to make fences. Sassafras wood is so smooth that one of the Australian cousins is called the satinwood tree.