I've been studying Phenology for decades. I remember working in the Long Beach school district & attending Hofstra full time on the Dean's list, and collapsing every night, and one morning awakening and wondering how the trees were green the next day. What had I missed? So I documented 'green leaves on maples' on April 23 2003. And started My Book of Phenology that I keep inside my house. Every year I add notes & dates. This is Sassafras on April 11. I'm waiting for tiny leaves to develop so I can pick them to make file (fi - lay) for gumbo & stews. Yes the leaves contain safrole - a controversial organic compound in many ways. Who would think this sweet picture of bud burst and unfurling of early April sweet smelling flowers would have a sinister side of it? Known to be a carcinogen and an illegal substance all in one? Also known as "brown" camphor oil 1.070, and Chinese sassafras oil, it's sometimes used in the manufacture of MDMA aka ecstasy, and is often spelled XTC. MDMA is a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. This native tree sure has an infamous side to it. I grow them to host Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies. No sense having a butterfly garden without having a host plant to keep them close by throughout the stages of their lives. Larval host plants of the Spicebush swallowtail larvae are thought to feed only on plants belonging to the family Lauraceae.