Sassafras albidum (Sassafras)

FloraFinder uses cookies only for correct operation. More info. Okay

Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees

Sassafras, white sassafras, ague tree, cinnamon wood, smelling stick, saloop, gumbo file, mitten tree

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Magnoliidae	Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
Order	Laurales	Trees and shrubs, including bay laurels, cinnamon, avocado, sassafras and others
Family	Lauraceae	Laurel family, mostly tropical evergreens
Genus	Sassafras	Probably this is a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage
Species	albidum	“White”

About plant names...

Sassafras is native to eastern North America. The bark from its roots is processed for sassafras oil, used in perfumes; its leaves produce a spice called gumbo filé.

Identification: Sassafras trees are up to 60' (18 m) tall and 40' (12 m) around, with an irregular trunk and brown bark that is light brown on the inside. The bark develops coarse ridges and furrows over time. Leaves are alternate, most often split into three lobes, sometimes without lobes, and 3-7" (7.6-17 cm) long. The three-lobed leaves look a little like three-fingered mittens. They are very colorful in the fall. The leaves have a fragrant smell when they are crushed, resembling that of eucalyptus or, by some accounts, Juicy Fruit gum. Flowers are a bright yellow-green color, appearing in April to May. Fruits are dark blue, shiny, oval in shape, ¼" (8.5 mm) long, attached to a red petiole (stem) with a cup-shaped tip.

Edibility: Bark from young sassafras roots is mostly used now to perfume soaps, but in the past it has been used to flavor tea and root beer. However, the active ingredient, safarole, is mildly toxic and weakly carcinogenic: it has been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The ground, dried leaves are used to produce gumbo filé, used to flavor and thicken Cajun and Creole gumbos. Filé has, according to spice purveyor McCormick, "a flavor similar to thyme and savory" and "a characteristic citrus flavor."

Online References:

Plants.ces.ncsu.edu

The Missouri Botanical Garden

The Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation

The USDA Forest Service's Silvics of North America site

The USDA Plants Database

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Hbd.org (home brewing instructions)

References:

Rätsch, Cristian, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and its Applications, Park Street Press, 1998, p. 465