Sassafras Tree Uses

The sassafras tree is a deciduous tree belonging to the Lauraceae family. It has an extensive spread in eastern North America and eastern Asia. The tree and its various parts have been used for making a wide variety of medicinal and household products, and is also a source of food and shelter to wildlife. Before we get down to some of its uses, a little information about the tree.

Sassafras Tree Identification

The sassafras tree is a fragrant tree that grows anywhere between 30 to 60 feet in height, with an irregular, round and slightly pyramidal shaped crown. The branches are slender and smooth that furrow deeply upon maturing. The bark also turns a dark red-brown from a light brown when it matures. An interesting sassafras tree fact is its different shaped leaves that make this tree easily identifiable. The leaves are simple and arranged alternately. A single plant bears three distinct leaf patterns on the same plant, oval and un-lobed, partly divided into three lobes, and one mitten shaped, a few species also have five-lobed leaves. Leaves are bright green in summer and shades of purple, orange, yellow and red in fall. Sassafras flowers bloom in spring, are five petaled, fragrant and very showy, with egg shaped blue black fruits that mature late summer.

Uses of Sassafras Tree

Uses of the sassafras tree are countless, as most parts of the tree are used for producing different products. Sassafras essential oil is extracted from its root bark using the process of steam distillation. The oil's main component is safrole, which is used to add fragrance to perfumes, soaps and cosmetic products. While purchasing this essential oil, bear in mind that a large amount of effort in terms of root bark quantity and extraction is required to get a small yield of the oil, hence it is not easily available. Many stores sell it under the guise of 'commercial sassafras oil', which is actually a by-product of camphor produced in Asia and/or Brazil. On the flip side its component safrole is also used for illegal manufacturing of the ecstasy drugs.

Sassafras leaves are used to make a spice known as filé powder. Leaves are picked green, dried and grounded into a fine powder and is used to make stew or soup; gumbo. Sassafras roots are used to flavor tea and root beer. Native Americans made this tea by seeping the root in boiling water. The tea was used specifically as an anticoagulant, a substance that prevents blood from clotting and as a cure for the common sexually transmitted infection; gonorrhea.

An important source of food and shelter, the sassafras tree is very important to the wildlife. As the twigs and leaves are tender, it is fondly enjoyed by deer, groundhogs, marsh rabbits, etc. Bears and beavers enjoy the roots and bark of the sassafras tree. The fruits borne by the tree are consumed by the quail, great crested flycatchers, woodpeckers, wild turkeys, mockingbirds, etc. The sassafras tree is also a popular ornamental and shade tree used in many landscapes. They are grown along sidewalks, parkways and residential areas.

The oil, spice and tea obtained from sassafras tree, which are meant for human consumption and use have come under fire from the FDA, when it was banned in 1960 based on the studies and tests conducted on humans and animals. However, several years later, was categorized as generally recognized as safe, in dietary supplements that contain insignificant or negligible amounts of safrole.