SASSAFRAS
Sassafras albidum
COMMON NAMES: Saxifrax, saloop, ague tree, cinnamon wood.
FEATURES: Sassafras is the generic name of three species of trees, two native to eastern Asia, one to
eastern North America, in the laurel family Lauraceae. In the United States and Canada, sassafras extends
from Maine, southern Ontario, and Michigan to Texas and Florida. May approach 100 feet in height and 6
feet in diameter, but is usually smaller, sometimes shrubby.
The bark is dark red-brown, deeply furrowed, soft and brittle with short, corky, layered fractures, with
many oil cells. The young twigs are green. The heartwood of sassafras is dark or orange-brown and
resistant to decay. The leaves, bright green above, downy beneath, are 4–6 inches long, oval, especially
on older branches often mitten-shaped, or three-lobed on younger shoots or twigs. In autumn they turn
various shades of yellow, orange, pink, and deep red. The small greenish flowers appear in April or early
May before the leaves. The fruit pistil, which ripens into a blue drupe, is eagerly devoured by the birds.
The bark has an aromatic, agreeable taste and similar fragrance.
In the book Trees and Shrubs of Massachus, 1894, sassafras is given credit for having aided in the
discovery of America. The windswept fragrance of the trees encouraged Columbus to persuade his
mutinous crew that land was near.
Sold in some areas under the name of salap or saloop.MEDICINAL PARTS: Root bark.
SOLVENTS: Boiling water, alcohol.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Stimulant, diaphoretic, aromatic, tonic, diuretic, alterative.
USES: Early explorers and settlers in the New World were told by the Native Americans that it would
cure diverse ills, and it was eagerly sought and shipped to Europe. In domestic practice it enjoys a wide
field of application and use, especially as a so-called spring renovator to thin and purify the blood. J. H.
Greer tells us: “Sassafras should not be used by thin-blooded persons.” It would accentuate the positive.
It is used as corrective in rheumatism, varicose ulcers; given in painful menstruation it soon relieves
the sufferer, and is effective in afterpains of childbirth and in all skin eruptive diseases. It is antagonistic
to narcotic effect of alcohol. The essential oil will often relieve most painful toothache. Sassafras is used
with other compounds to improve their flavor and render their properties more cordial to the stomach.