diff --git a/core/types/hashing.go b/core/types/hashing.go
index 8337f656bc..98fe64e15a 100644
--- a/core/types/hashing.go
+++ b/core/types/hashing.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rlp"
 )
 
-// hasherPool holds LegacyKeccak256 hashers for rlpHash.
+// hasherPool holds LegacyKeccak256 buffer for rlpHash.
 var hasherPool = sync.Pool{
 	New: func() interface{} { return crypto.NewKeccakState() },
 }
diff --git a/core/types/hashing_test.go b/core/types/hashing_test.go
index 8f51088179..a7153bf09a 100644
--- a/core/types/hashing_test.go
+++ b/core/types/hashing_test.go
@@ -74,15 +74,25 @@ func TestEIP2718DeriveSha(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// goos: darwin
+// goarch: arm64
+// pkg: github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types
+// cpu: Apple M1 Pro
+// BenchmarkDeriveSha200
+// BenchmarkDeriveSha200/std_trie
+// BenchmarkDeriveSha200/std_trie-8         	    6754	    174074 ns/op	   80054 B/op	    1926 allocs/op
+// BenchmarkDeriveSha200/stack_trie
+// BenchmarkDeriveSha200/stack_trie-8       	    7296	    162675 ns/op	     745 B/op	      19 allocs/op
 func BenchmarkDeriveSha200(b *testing.B) {
 	txs, err := genTxs(200)
 	if err != nil {
 		b.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	want := types.DeriveSha(txs, trie.NewListHasher())
-	var have common.Hash
+
 	b.Run("std_trie", func(b *testing.B) {
 		b.ReportAllocs()
+		var have common.Hash
 		for b.Loop() {
 			have = types.DeriveSha(txs, trie.NewListHasher())
 		}
@@ -94,6 +104,7 @@ func BenchmarkDeriveSha200(b *testing.B) {
 	st := trie.NewStackTrie(nil)
 	b.Run("stack_trie", func(b *testing.B) {
 		b.ReportAllocs()
+		var have common.Hash
 		for b.Loop() {
 			st.Reset()
 			have = types.DeriveSha(txs, st)
diff --git a/trie/bytepool.go b/trie/bytepool.go
index 9a647e5fd8..31be7ae749 100644
--- a/trie/bytepool.go
+++ b/trie/bytepool.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func newUnsafeBytesPool(sliceCap, nitems int) *unsafeBytesPool {
 	}
 }
 
-// Get returns a slice.
+// Get returns a slice with pre-allocated space.
 func (bp *unsafeBytesPool) get() []byte {
 	if len(bp.items) > 0 {
 		last := bp.items[len(bp.items)-1]
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ func (bp *unsafeBytesPool) get() []byte {
 	return make([]byte, 0, bp.w)
 }
 
-// put returns a slice to the pool. This method
-// will ignore slices that are too small or too large (>3x the cap)
+// put returns a slice to the pool. This method will ignore slices that are
+// too small or too large (>3x the cap)
 func (bp *unsafeBytesPool) put(b []byte) {
 	if c := cap(b); c < bp.w || c > 3*bp.w {
 		return
diff --git a/trie/stacktrie.go b/trie/stacktrie.go
index ed7c7635ba..18fe1eea78 100644
--- a/trie/stacktrie.go
+++ b/trie/stacktrie.go
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ func (t *StackTrie) grow(key []byte) {
 
 // Update inserts a (key, value) pair into the stack trie.
 //
-// Note the supplied key value pair is copied and managed internally, they are
-// safe to be modified after this method returns.
+// Note the supplied key value pair is copied and managed internally,
+// they are safe to be modified after this method returns.
 func (t *StackTrie) Update(key, value []byte) error {
 	if len(value) == 0 {
 		return errors.New("trying to insert empty (deletion)")
@@ -120,14 +120,16 @@ func (t *StackTrie) TrieKey(key []byte) []byte {
 // stNode represents a node within a StackTrie
 type stNode struct {
 	typ      uint8       // node type (as in branch, ext, leaf)
-	key      []byte      // key chunk covered by this (leaf|ext) node
-	val      []byte      // value contained by this node if it's a leaf
-	children [16]*stNode // list of children (for branch and exts)
+	key      []byte      // exclusive owned key chunk covered by this (leaf|ext) node
+	val      []byte      // exclusive owned value contained by this node (leaf: value; hash: hash)
+	children [16]*stNode // list of children (for branch and ext)
 }
 
-// newLeaf constructs a leaf node with provided node key and value. The key
-// will be deep-copied in the function and safe to modify afterwards, but
-// value is not.
+// newLeaf constructs a leaf node with provided node key and value.
+//
+// The key is deep-copied within the function, so it can be safely modified
+// afterwards. The value is retained directly without copying, as it is
+// exclusively owned by the stackTrie.
 func newLeaf(key, val []byte) *stNode {
 	st := stPool.Get().(*stNode)
 	st.typ = leafNode
@@ -158,8 +160,8 @@ const (
 func (n *stNode) reset() *stNode {
 	if n.typ == hashedNode {
 		// On hashnodes, we 'own' the val: it is guaranteed to be not held
-		// by external caller. Hence, when we arrive here, we can put it back
-		// into the pool
+		// by external caller. Hence, when we arrive here, we can put it
+		// back into the pool
 		bPool.put(n.val)
 	}
 	n.key = n.key[:0]
@@ -184,11 +186,6 @@ func (n *stNode) getDiffIndex(key []byte) int {
 }
 
 // Helper function to that inserts a (key, value) pair into the trie.
-//
-//   - The key is not retained by this method, but always copied if needed.
-//   - The value is retained by this method, as long as the leaf that it represents
-//     remains unhashed. However: it is never modified.
-//   - The path is not retained by this method.
 func (t *StackTrie) insert(st *stNode, key, value []byte, path []byte) {
 	switch st.typ {
 	case branchNode: /* Branch */
@@ -247,16 +244,14 @@ func (t *StackTrie) insert(st *stNode, key, value []byte, path []byte) {
 		}
 		var p *stNode
 		if diffidx == 0 {
-			// the break is on the first byte, so
-			// the current node is converted into
-			// a branch node.
+			// the break is on the first byte, so the current node
+			// is converted into a branch node.
 			st.children[0] = nil
-			p = st
 			st.typ = branchNode
+			p = st
 		} else {
-			// the common prefix is at least one byte
-			// long, insert a new intermediate branch
-			// node.
+			// the common prefix is at least one byte long, insert
+			// a new intermediate branch node.
 			st.children[0] = stPool.Get().(*stNode)
 			st.children[0].typ = branchNode
 			p = st.children[0]
@@ -292,8 +287,8 @@ func (t *StackTrie) insert(st *stNode, key, value []byte, path []byte) {
 		if diffidx == 0 {
 			// Convert current leaf into a branch
 			st.typ = branchNode
-			p = st
 			st.children[0] = nil
+			p = st
 		} else {
 			// Convert current node into an ext,
 			// and insert a child branch node.
@@ -319,9 +314,7 @@ func (t *StackTrie) insert(st *stNode, key, value []byte, path []byte) {
 		st.val = nil
 
 	case emptyNode: /* Empty */
-		st.typ = leafNode
-		st.key = append(st.key, key...) // deep-copy the key as it's volatile
-		st.val = value
+		*st = *newLeaf(key, value)
 
 	case hashedNode:
 		panic("trying to insert into hash")
@@ -405,7 +398,8 @@ func (t *StackTrie) hash(st *stNode, path []byte) {
 	st.typ = hashedNode
 	st.key = st.key[:0]
 
-	// Release reference to (potentially externally held) value-slice.
+	// Release reference to value slice which is exclusively owned
+	// by stackTrie itself.
 	if cap(st.val) > 0 && t.vPool != nil {
 		t.vPool.put(st.val)
 	}