AGAINST the Indian-summer sky, a tree lifts up its hands and testifies to glory, the glory of a blue October day. Yellow or orange, or blood-orange, or sometimes softest salmon pink, or blotched with ...

If I had to choose a favorite tree, it would be sassafras (Sassafras albidum) because its leaves come in three fun shapes. Some are oval; others have three lobes; still others have a single lobe and ...