Sassafras
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Article
| Sassafras | ||||||||||||||
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| Sassafras albidum | ||||||||||||||
 The distinctive leaves of the sassafras tree.
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Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Sassafras (usually Sassafras albidum, though other species exist) grow as aromatic trees with distinctive leaves that grows in Eastern North America, from southernmost Ontario, Canada through the eastern United States south to central Florida, and west to southern Iowa and eastern Texas. Sassafras trees grow from 15-35 m (50-120 feet) tall and 70-150 cm (2.5-6 feet) in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth, orange-brown bark. They show sympodial branching. The bark of the mature trunk appears thick, red-brown, and deeply furrowed. The wood appears light, soft, weak, and brittle. All parts of the plants smell very fragrant.
Sassafras distinguishes itslef in having three distinct leaf patterns on the same plant; unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three pronged). They have smooth margins and grow 7-20 cm long by 5-10 cm broad. The young leaves and twigs appear quite mucilaginous, and produce a scent similar to lemons when crushed. The tiny, yellow flowers have five petals and bloom in the spring; they reproduce dioeciously, with male and female flowers on separate trees. The fruit appear blue-black, egg-shaped, 1 cm long, produced on long, red-stalked cups, and mature in late summer.
The name "Sassafras", applied by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the sixteenth century, may come from a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage. Native Americans called it "pauame."
[edit] Habitats
- Woodland Garden
- Canopy
- Secondary
- Sunny Edge
- Dappled Shade
[edit] Uses
Essential oil distilled from the root-bark or the fruit was used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy.
The essential oil was also used as a pain killer as well as an antiseptic in dentistry. The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects, which makes it a nice yard plant. The root or root bark is also used to make tea, although commercial "sassafras teas" are now artificially flavored (see FDA ban below). A yellow dye is obtained from the wood. The shoots were used to make root beer (formerly an alcoholic beverage, but now a soft drink), which owed its characteristic odor to the sassafras extract, since replaced by other natural and/or artificial flavorings. The leaves are used for thickening sauces and soups, and when dried and ground are known as filé powder, a spice used in Cajun, Creole, and other Louisiana cooking, such as the dish filé gumbo. The pith is used in the U.S. to soothe eye inflammation and ease catarrh. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes.
Safrole, which is the main component (75-80%) of sassafras essential oil, is now recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture as a potential carcinogen. Safrole is also commonly used by clandestine laboratories to synthesize various hallucinogenic drugs such as MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine), MDMA (Ecstasy), and MDEA (Love). For this reason, its sale is monitored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In some deep rural regions it was a popular additive to moonshine, and may still be.
Safrole and sassafras not certified as safrole-free have been banned in the United States as food additives or flavoring agents by the FDA since 1976 due to safrole's designation as a carcinogen.
[edit] Edible uses
Leaves - raw or cooked. The young leaves can be added to salads whilst both old and young leaves can be used as a flavouring and as a thickening agent in soups etc. They have a mild aromatic flavour. The leaves are often dried and ground into powder for later use. The young shoots have been used to make a kind of beer. The dried root bark can be boiled with sugar and water until it forms a thick paste. It is then used as a condiment. The root and the berries can also be used as flavourings. Winter buds and young leaves - raw. A tea is made from the root bark, it is considered to be a tonic. The tea can also be made by brewing the root in maple syrup, this can be concentrated into a jelly. A tea can also be made from the leaves and the roots. It is best in spring. A tea can be made from the flowers.
[edit] Medicinal uses
Sassafras has a long history of herbal use. It was widely employed by many native North American Indian tribes who used it to treat a wide range of complaints, valuing it especially for its tonic effect upon the body. It is still commonly used in herbalism and as a domestic remedy. The root bark and root pith are alterative, anodyne, antiseptic, aromatic, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, stimulant and vasodilator. A tea made from the root bark is particularly renowned as a spring tonic and blood purifier as well as a household cure for a wide range of ailments such as gastrointestinal complaints, colds, kidney ailments, rheumatism and skin eruptions. The mucilaginous pith from the twigs has been used as a poultice or wash for eye ailments and is also taken internally as a tea for chest, liver and kidney complaints. An essential oil from the root bark is used as an antiseptic in dentistry and also as an anodyne. The oil contains safrole, which is said to have carcinogenic activity and has been banned from use in American foods - though it is less likely to cause cancer than alcohol. In large doses the oil is poisonous, causing dilated pupils, vomiting, stupor, collapse and kidney and liver damage. The oil has been applied externally to control lice and treat insect bites, though it can cause skin irritation.
[edit] Other uses
An essential oil is obtained from the bark of the root and also from the fruits. One hundred kilos of root chips yield one litre of essential oil under steam pressure - this oil comprises about 90% safrol. The oil is medicinal and is also used in soaps, the coarser kinds of perfumery, toothpastes, soft drinks etc. It is also used as an antiseptic in dentistry. A yellow dye is obtained from the wood and the bark. It is brown to orange. The plant repels mosquitoes and other insects. Wood - coarse-grained, soft, weak, fragrant, brittle, very durable in the soil. It weighs 31lb per cubic foot and is used for fence posts and items requiring lightness.
[edit] Cultivation
Requires a deep, fertile, well-drained, lime-free, near neutral soil in sun or light shade. Does well in a woodland garden, especially in a sheltered position along the edge. The plant is tender when young, the young shoots of older trees can also be damaged by late spring frosts. A very ornamental plant with a wide range of uses, it is occasionally cultivated and often gathered from the wild. All parts of the tree contain essential oils and give off a pleasant spicy aroma when crushed. The stem bark is highly aromatic, more so than the wood. The root stem bark is the most pleasant of all. The flowers have a spicy perfume. Trees are long-lived, moderately fast-growing and disease-free in the wild. They can begin flowering when only 10 years old and good seed crops are usually produced every 2 - 3 years. The trees spread by root suckers and can form thickets. Although some flowers appear to be hermaphrodite, they are functionally either male or female and most trees are dioecious. Both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
[edit] Propogation
Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 4 months cold stratification at 4°c. It is best sown as early in the year as possible. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as possible and grow them on in the greenhouse. One report says to harden off the plants as soon as possible, but young plants are frost-tender and so we recommend growing them on in the greenhouse for their first winter and then planting them out in early summer. Give the young trees some protection for at least their first winter outdoors[K]. Root cuttings, taken from suckers, 1 - 2cm long taken in December. Plant horizontally in pots in a greenhouse. Suckers in late winter. Plant straight out into their permanent positions.
