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Through the Seasons with Sassafras Nancy Rose

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Through the Seasons with Sassafras Nancy Rose Through the Seasons with Sassafras Nancy Rose assafras (Sassafras albidum) is an admi- bark of sassafras roots and has been used for rable tree any time of the year. Native to medicines, fragrances, and flavorings, including Smost of the eastern United States as well for root beer. as far southern Ontario, sassafras is a medium- Sassafras is a member of the laurel family sized (typically 30 to 60 feet [9 to 18 meters] (Lauraceae), a group of mostly tropical trees and tall) deciduous tree with an attractive tiered shrubs. There are just three species in the genus branching habit. It may form dense, shrubby Sassafras. In addition to the North American thickets as suckers arise from its shallow, S. albidum there are two similar looking spe- wide-spreading, lateral root system, especially cies in Asia, S. tzumu from China and S. ran- in sites like old farm fields where it has room daiense, endemic to Taiwan. Another familiar to spread. temperate region genus in the family is Lindera, Sassafras is primarily dioecious, bearing sta- the spicebushes. Scratch the stem of the native minate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers North American spicebush (Lindera benzoin) on separate plants. Blooming in early to mid and you’ll smell a lemony-medicinal fragrance spring, the fragrant yellow flowers are borne similar to sassafras. in clusters that, en masse, put on quite a show For all its ornamental attributes you’d think despite the relatively small size (about 1/3 inch sassafras would be more widely planted. Per- [8 millimeters] in diameter) of individual flow- haps the main reason it’s not on every street ers. Sassafras fruits are rather striking: ovoid, corner is that it’s a bit difficult to propagate deep blue drupes cupped in fleshy, cherry red and transplant. Stem cuttings do not root read- pedicels that often persist after the fruit has ily, so propagation is done from seeds, which dropped or been eaten. require stratification, or from root cuttings. Sassafras albidum has unusual foliage—its Fortunately, container-grown sassafras can be leaves may display three distinct morphologies, found at some nurseries, especially those spe- all of which may be present on the same tree. cializing in native plants. Sassafras grows best The three leaf shapes are 1) an unlobed oval, in moist, well-drained sandy loam but also tol- 2) a two-lobed “mitten,” with one large lobe erates other soils as long as they’re well drained. and a smaller “thumb” lobe, and 3) a three- It is generally cold hardy through USDA Plant lobed, trident-like form. Sassafras foliage is a Hardiness Zone 5 (average annual minimum pleasant-enough light green in summer, but its temperature -10 to -20°F [-23.3 to -28.9°C]). autumn coloration in shades of yellow, orange, There are currently ten specimens of Sas- and red is truly spectacular. The foliage also safras albidum growing in the Arboretum. The has a culinary aspect; filé powder, a flavoring most prominent of these is a group (22915-A, and thickening agent used in Creole gumbo, B, C, and E) growing right along Bussey Hill is made of young sassafras leaves, dried and Road across from the lilac collection. This is a finely ground. Sassafras is also a food plant for a great-looking grove of sassafras, but unfortu- caterpillars of spicebush swallowtail and tiger nately their exact provenance is unknown (they swallowtail butterflies. were accessioned in 1950 as “existing plants”). Young sassafras twigs are olive green and, We do have several accessions of known prov- when scratched, emit a lemony, slightly medic- enance, including one (968-A) collected from a inal odor. Mature bark on trunks is orangish woods near the Arboretum in 1884, but we also brown and deeply furrowed. The yellowish hope to add more wild-collected accessions of wood is light and somewhat brittle, however, this beautiful native tree as part of our ongoing it is fairly rot resistant and so has been used Campaign for the Living Collections. to make barrels, fence posts, and other items. Oil of sassafras is extracted primarily from the Nancy Rose is the editor of Arnoldia. .
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