Sassafras trees have a sweet history
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 look like mittens.
The three leaf types occur on the same tree, and they all release a wonderful spicy fragrance when crushed.
Deer and rabbits feed on the leaves, as do caterpillars of the Spicebush Swallowtail.
Sassafras is found throughout the eastern and mid-western U.S., south to central Florida.
It’s related to avocado, cinnamon, and bay trees – all members of the Laurel family.
In the spring, sassafras produces greenish yellow flowers, which develop into dark blue fruits. These are food for Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Mockingbirds, and Gray Catbirds.
Sassafras trees can attain impressive sizes. The record-holder is a specimen in Kentucky that’s over 100 feet tall, with a trunk 21 feet in circumference.
Once the source of a curative oil, tonic, and tea, sassafras was avidly sought by some sixteenth-century American explorers who hoped to make a fortune by exporting the root bark for medicinal uses.
Sassafras soon lost its popularity in Europe as a cure-all, but early American colonists, as well as native Americans, continued to use various parts of the tree to treat arthritis, colds, and diarrhea.
Sassafras extracts were added to soaps and perfumes, and the aromatic wood, thought to repel bedbugs, was made into bedsteads.
Sassafras was also used to concoct a root beer-like drink.
Later, the safety of Sassafras root became a cause for concern, as the bark contains safrole, known to cause cancer in laboratory rats. Safrole is also a precursor of the recreational drug MDMA (Ecstacy). The FDA has banned the use of sassafras root in commercial products unless the safrole has been removed.
Sassafras leaves, which don’t contain safrole, are still marketed today in a powdered form called filè, used as a flavoring and thickener in Creole cooking.
Vicky McMillan, a retired biologist formerly at Colgate University,lives on Hilton Head Island. She can be reached at vicky.mcmillan@gmail.com.
This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Sassafras trees have a sweet history."