By Cat Gavin and Chrissy Moore

When European explorers arrived in the Americas, they were greeted by Native Peoples with a beverage that existed nowhere else in the world – sassafras tea. For many generations, the local tribes harvested the sassafras (Sassafras albidum) tree root and created an infusion by steeping the root in hot water, as they believed it calmed the stomach. 

Sassafras tea was a big hit in Europe when the explorers took it back to their homeland, and soon sassafras root bark was one of the most traded commodities across the Atlantic! For 300 years in America, the tea remained a popular and renowned beverage, especially because it is the original flavor of root beer!

Then, in 1960, the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA, CFR 2023) determined that safrole, an oil found in sassafras, is a carcinogen (MBG, N.D.). Ironically, there are small amounts of safrole in many other plants that we consume as well, including nutmeg, black pepper, and cinnamon. Nevertheless, sassafras was banned as a food ingredient.

In 1962, a gentleman named Hermie “Pappy” Kerner thought people would still want and need sassafras tea, so he worked to create a safe, safrole-free version of the famous, but besmirched, drink. Per his recipe (used to this day), the root bark is sustainably harvested in the Appalachian and Ozark Mountain regions, where the sassafras tree grows. People familiar with these regions will likely have encountered sassafras on multiple occasions, but for those outside its range, it’s worth sharing some of its many virtues (Gavin, pers. comm.).

The name “sassafras,” applied by botanist Nicolas Monardes in 1569, likely “comes from an American Indian name used in Florida,” while the “specific epithet, albidum, means white” (MBG, N.D.). Like avocado (Persea spp.), cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.), and bay leaf (Laurus nobilis), sassafras is in the Lauracaeae family. It is fairly easy to identify since its closest relatives are tropical trees (Encyclopedia.com, N.D.). The simplest way to identify sassafras is by its unique leaves: There are three types on one tree!

Sassafras can reach a height of 30 ‒ 60 feet and can have a 25 ‒ 40 foot spread, but some have grown as tall as 80 feet in ideal conditions. It keeps a shrubby form in the north and reaches its tallest in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina (Sievers, 1930). It is often found in open woodlands, along fence rows, old fields, forest edges, or dry ridges and upland forests, including pine woodlands following fire. Clearly, it is very adaptable, tolerating virtually all soil types within its range, including clay and dry soil, and has a high tolerance for drought, but it grows best in moist, well-drained, sandy loam soils. It also tolerates a range of light conditions from full sun to partial shade (MBG, N.D.; USFS, N.D.).

Sassafras’s leaves are generally three to seven inches in length and may be lobed or entire (having no lobed margins). Some of the lobed versions look like mittens–a telltale trait! One of the nicest features of sassafras is the fall color of its leaves, which can turn orange, red, yellow, or even purple! It can be a real show stopper in autumn. It blooms in early spring, either before or as new leaves emerge, each flower having six yellowish petals. It’s important to note that sassafras are dioecious, meaning the male and female flowers appear on separate trees (USFS, N.D.).

Maturing in early summer, the fruit–a dark blue drupe–sits atop a red cup-like structure called a pedicel, which makes for a striking contrast. The fruit, which is eaten by birds, small mammals, or is carried away in waterways, assists with seed dispersal. If you encounter dense thickets of sassafras in wooded openings or in old fields, it is likely these have developed from root sprouts rather than seeds (USFS, N.D.). The trees do like to sucker (LBJWC, N.D.), especially if the root zone has been disturbed.

Sassafras flowers are attractive to bees for whom they provide nectar and pollen. The leaves are a larval food source for the spicebush swallowtail butterfly, the tiger swallowtail butterfly, and the spicebush silkmoth (LBJWC, N.D.). Sassafras is also important to wildlife as a browse plant: The berries are relished by black bears, wild turkeys, and many songbirds; deer and porcupines feed on twigs and leaves; and rabbits nibble on bark in winter (USFS, N.D.).

Sassafras was used extensively for food and medicine by Native Americans long before European colonizers arrived. It was also used by the Cherokee as a blood thinner to purify blood, to treat skin diseases, and rheumatism, among other ailments (LBJWC, N.D.; MBG, N.D.). The bark was one of the first exports of the New World. In Europe, sassafras was used to “cure” syphilis, although this was later determined to be ineffective. In the southern United States, the roots were boiled, then combined with molasses, and allowed to ferment into the first root beer. A cup of sassafras root tea has been a traditional spring tonic in the South for hundreds of years.

The fragrant oil distilled from the root bark is used in the manufacture of some kinds of perfume and soap, while the wood of sassafras is used in the manufacture of rails, cabinets, buckets, furniture, and as a firewood. The wood and bark of the tree furnish an orange dye (LBJWC, N.D.). Sassafras has been used medicinally in many ways, including: to strengthen immunity, prevent cancer, detoxify the body, relieve pain, increase energy, alleviate inflammation, treat kidney ailments, purify the blood, and treat malaria, scurvy, rheumatoid arthritis, gonorrhea, herpes, shingles, and measles. According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, “culinary uses have included sassafras tea (root bark), root beer flavoring (root oil), and a gumbo-thickening agent called filé made popular in Louisiana Creole cuisine (Atlas Obscura, 2020; MBG, N.D.).

Ornamentally, sassafras boasts great beauty, but its worth is not just skin deep; it has also provided great utility through the centuries. If you’re lucky enough to have it growing near you, take a moment to appreciate its multifaceted contributions and share its virtues with those around you!

Editor’s Note: As one reader has commented below, Laurel Wilt (Raffaelea lauricola sp. nov. T.C. Harr. Fraedrich & Aghayeva), a fungal pathogen primarily of species in the Lauraceae family and transmitted by the introduced (non-native) redbay ambrosia beetle, has caused considerable damage and/or death to plants in the United States, particularly in the southeastern U.S. In light of this, landowners would do well to keep an eye on their woodlands/landscape plantings and report any unusual occurrences to their local cooperative extension agency. The USDA Forest Service, Southern Region, has stated the following regarding laurel wilt:

Laurel wilt is a disease of woody plants in the laurel family (Lauraceae). Hundreds of millions of redbay (Persea borbonia) trees have been killed by laurel wilt in the southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain region of the United States (US). The disease has also killed large numbers of sassafras (Sassafras albidum) trees in forests and landscapes, and avocado (Persea americana) trees in commercial production. As of October 2019, laurel wilt was known to occur from Texas to North Carolina, south through Florida and north to Kentucky. Laurel wilt is expected to continue spreading through sassafras in the eastern US, and is a potential threat to California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica) in the western US and to lauraceous species elsewhere in the world. See Region 8 – Forest & Grassland Health for more information.

Medicinal Disclaimer: It is the policy of The Herb Society of America, Inc. not to advise or recommend herbs for medicinal or health use. This information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered as a recommendation or an endorsement of any particular medical or health treatment. Please consult a health care provider before pursuing any herbal treatments.

Photo Credits: 1) Sassafras albidum tree (pverdonk, CC BY-NC 2.0); 2) Ancient Infusions sassafras tea concentrate (Cat Gavin); 3) Sassafras leaves (Cat Gavin); 4) Map of Sassafras albidum‘s native range (US Forest Service); 5) Sassafras fall color (Chrissy Moore); 6) Sassafras flowers (Chrissy Moore) and sassafras fruit (amy_buthod, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0); 7) Dried sassafras root (Public Domain); 8) Gumbo filé (Public Domain).

References

Atlas Obscura. 2020. The Native American Origins of Gumbo. Accessed 8/27/2023. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/native-american-gumbo

Encyclopedia.com. N.D. Laurel Family (Lauraceae). Accessed 2020. https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/laurel-family-lauraceae

Gavin, Cat. 2023. Personal Communication.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Database. N.D. Sassafras albidum. Accessed 2020. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=saal5

Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder. N.D. Sassafras albidum. Accessed 8/26/2023. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=i820

Sievers, A. F. 1930. American medicinal plants of commercial importance. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication 77. Washington, DC. 72 p.

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. N.D. Sassafras albidum. Accessed 2020 & 8/26/2023. https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/sassafras/albidum.htm

United States Food and Drug Administration. N.D. CFR – Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. Current as of 6/7/2023. Accessed 8/27/2023. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=189.180

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Cat Gavin attends Ohio University as a plant biology student. Her undergraduate work has included ecological and dendrological research in temperate and tropical systems, in both field and lab. During the summer of 2023, Cat completed a research internship with the U.S. National Arboretum’s Woody Landscape Plant Germplasm Repository where she worked on projects involving tissue culture, viability testing, and seed ecology. Cat’s family has a close connection with sassafras as the owners of Ancient Infusions®, a small-batch tea company.

Chrissy Moore is the curator of the National Herb Garden (NHG) at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC. Aside from garden maintenance in the NHG, Chrissy lectures, provides tours, and writes on various herbal topics. She is a member of the Potomac Unit of The Herb Society of America and is an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist.