SWEET LEAF, HORSE SUGAR (Symplocos tinctoria, L'Her.). A small, open-headed tree, 10 to 30 feet high, with short trunk and slim, ascending branches. Bark ashy gray with reddish tinge, warty. Buds ovate, with triangular scales. Leaves leathery, sweet-tasting, dark green and lustrous above; paler and pubescent beneath, 5 to 6 inches long, 1 to 2 inches wide, tapering at base and apex; entire or remotely toothed on mar gins; petioles short, winged. Flowers white, fragrant, in
close axillary clusters; March to May. Fruit, a brown, nut like drupe with 1 seed. Preferred habitat moist, shady wood lands. Dist.: Delaware to Florida, west to Blue Ridge Moun tains, and in Gulf States to Louisiana and southern Arkancgs. Horses and cattle browse the foliage.