diff --git a/btree.go b/btree.go
index eb74b1d..7e4551d 100644
--- a/btree.go
+++ b/btree.go
@@ -103,12 +103,16 @@ func (f *FreeList) newNode() (n *node) {
 	return
 }
 
-func (f *FreeList) freeNode(n *node) {
+// freeNode adds the given node to the list, returning true if it was added
+// and false if it was discarded.
+func (f *FreeList) freeNode(n *node) (out bool) {
 	f.mu.Lock()
 	if len(f.freelist) < cap(f.freelist) {
 		f.freelist = append(f.freelist, n)
+		out = true
 	}
 	f.mu.Unlock()
+	return
 }
 
 // ItemIterator allows callers of Ascend* to iterate in-order over portions of
@@ -635,13 +639,30 @@ func (c *copyOnWriteContext) newNode() (n *node) {
 	return
 }
 
-func (c *copyOnWriteContext) freeNode(n *node) {
+type freeType int
+
+const (
+	ftFreelistFull freeType = iota // node was freed (available for GC, not stored in freelist)
+	ftStored                       // node was stored in the freelist for later use
+	ftNotOwned                     // node was ignored by COW, since it's owned by another one
+)
+
+// freeNode frees a node within a given COW context, if it's owned by that
+// context.  It returns what happened to the node (see freeType const
+// documentation).
+func (c *copyOnWriteContext) freeNode(n *node) freeType {
 	if n.cow == c {
 		// clear to allow GC
 		n.items.truncate(0)
 		n.children.truncate(0)
 		n.cow = nil
-		c.freelist.freeNode(n)
+		if c.freelist.freeNode(n) {
+			return ftStored
+		} else {
+			return ftFreelistFull
+		}
+	} else {
+		return ftNotOwned
 	}
 }
 
@@ -812,6 +833,45 @@ func (t *BTree) Len() int {
 	return t.length
 }
 
+// Clear removes all items from the btree.  If addNodesToFreelist is true,
+// t's nodes are added to its freelist as part of this call, until the freelist
+// is full.  Otherwise, the root node is simply dereferenced and the subtree
+// left to Go's normal GC processes.
+//
+// This can be much faster
+// than calling Delete on all elements, because that requires finding/removing
+// each element in the tree and updating the tree accordingly.  It also is
+// somewhat faster than creating a new tree to replace the old one, because
+// nodes from the old tree are reclaimed into the freelist for use by the new
+// one, instead of being lost to the garbage collector.
+//
+// This call takes:
+//   O(1): when addNodesToFreelist is false, this is a single operation.
+//   O(1): when the freelist is already full, it breaks out immediately
+//   O(freelist size):  when the freelist is empty and the nodes are all owned
+//       by this tree, nodes are added to the freelist until full.
+//   O(tree size):  when all nodes are owned by another tree, all nodes are
+//       iterated over looking for nodes to add to the freelist, and due to
+//       ownership, none are.
+func (t *BTree) Clear(addNodesToFreelist bool) {
+	if t.root != nil && addNodesToFreelist {
+		t.root.reset(t.cow)
+	}
+	t.root, t.length = nil, 0
+}
+
+// reset returns a subtree to the freelist.  It breaks out immediately if the
+// freelist is full, since the only benefit of iterating is to fill that
+// freelist up.  Returns true if parent reset call should continue.
+func (n *node) reset(c *copyOnWriteContext) bool {
+	for _, child := range n.children {
+		if !child.reset(c) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return c.freeNode(n) != ftFreelistFull
+}
+
 // Int implements the Item interface for integers.
 type Int int
 
diff --git a/btree_test.go b/btree_test.go
index 5da9d8b..9eeb136 100644
--- a/btree_test.go
+++ b/btree_test.go
@@ -687,3 +687,84 @@ func TestCloneConcurrentOperations(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkDeleteAndRestore(b *testing.B) {
+	items := perm(16392)
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	b.Run(`CopyBigFreeList`, func(b *testing.B) {
+		fl := NewFreeList(16392)
+		tr := NewWithFreeList(*btreeDegree, fl)
+		for _, v := range items {
+			tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+		}
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			dels := make([]Item, 0, tr.Len())
+			tr.Ascend(ItemIterator(func(b Item) bool {
+				dels = append(dels, b)
+				return true
+			}))
+			for _, del := range dels {
+				tr.Delete(del)
+			}
+			// tr is now empty, we make a new empty copy of it.
+			tr = NewWithFreeList(*btreeDegree, fl)
+			for _, v := range items {
+				tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run(`Copy`, func(b *testing.B) {
+		tr := New(*btreeDegree)
+		for _, v := range items {
+			tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+		}
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			dels := make([]Item, 0, tr.Len())
+			tr.Ascend(ItemIterator(func(b Item) bool {
+				dels = append(dels, b)
+				return true
+			}))
+			for _, del := range dels {
+				tr.Delete(del)
+			}
+			// tr is now empty, we make a new empty copy of it.
+			tr = New(*btreeDegree)
+			for _, v := range items {
+				tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run(`ClearBigFreelist`, func(b *testing.B) {
+		fl := NewFreeList(16392)
+		tr := NewWithFreeList(*btreeDegree, fl)
+		for _, v := range items {
+			tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+		}
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			tr.Clear(true)
+			for _, v := range items {
+				tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run(`Clear`, func(b *testing.B) {
+		tr := New(*btreeDegree)
+		for _, v := range items {
+			tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+		}
+		b.ReportAllocs()
+		b.ResetTimer()
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			tr.Clear(true)
+			for _, v := range items {
+				tr.ReplaceOrInsert(v)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+}