UPPER DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY — Sassafras trees are easily identified by their characteristic bilobed (mitten-shaped) and trilobed (three-pronged) leaves. Their brilliantly colored foliage ripens early and is ablaze in the Upper Delaware River region now. All parts of the sassafras plant emit a pleasant spicy fragrance (sassafras is the main ingredient in root beer), and have long been used by humans for aromatic, culinary and medicinal purposes. For more about the foliage, see the fall edition of Our Country Home, available on the River Reporter website.