Sassafras albidum
Object Details
- See more items in
- Smithsonian Gardens Tree Collection
- On Display
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Accession Number
- 2017-0428A
- Description
- A beautiful tree with mitten-shaped leaves, sassafras was once popularly used medicinally and culinarily. Many Native American tribes had a multitude of medicinal uses for sassafras, ranging from a preventative to ward off fever, to a dietary aid for “overfattness.” Culinarily, the leaves have been used like bay leaves, filé for gumbo was made from ground roots or leaves, and oil from the roots was one of the ingredients in root beer. More recently, the US Food and Drug Administration identified a carcinogenic substance in sassafras oil, and many of its previous uses are now banned.
- Sassafras is of Special Concern in Maine.
- Hardiness
- -20 - 30 F
- Attracts
- Birds, butterflies
- Bloom Time
- April to May
- Ethnobotanical Uses
- Leaves used as a spice or thickening agent. Roots can be used to make a tea. Oil extracted from bark has been used to scent soap and flavor beverages.
- Medicinal / Pharmaceutical
- Some Native Americans used preparations of this plant to ward off fever, treat diarrhea, rheumatism, measles, scarlet fever, as a blood purifier, dietary aid for "overfattness," cough medicine, mouthwash, a gargle for colds, a wash for eyesores, to treat heart trouble, tapeworms, for bee stings, wounds, cuts, sprained ankles, bruises, nosebleeds, burns, lower chest pain, nausea, vomiting, indigestion, constipation, itching, loss of appetite, to treat worms, for gallstones, and bladder pain.
- Provenance
- From a cultivated plant not of known wild origin
- Topic
- Trees
- Living Collections
- Range
- Central to E. US; E. Canada
- Habitat
- Open wood on well-drained soil; 0-1500 meters
- Life Form
- Deciduous tree
- Average Height
- 40-50'
- Bark Characteristics
- Red-brown, deeply furrowed with flat, corky ridges. Twigs are smooth and green.
- Bloom Characteristics
- Female flowers are born on small, terminal cluster before the leaves. They do not have petals, but they do have 6 yellow-green sepals. Male flowers are inconspicuous.
- Dioecious
- Yes.
- Fall Color
- Orange, red, yellow
- Foliage Characteristics
- Simple, alternate, elliptic leaves can entire or irregularly lobed margins. 4-8" long.
- Fruit Characteristics
- Dark blue, oval drupe with a thick red stalk. .25-.4" long. Ripens in September.
- Structure
- Young: pyramidal Mature: rounded to irregular
- Data Source
- Smithsonian Gardens
- Common Name
- Sassafras
- Ague Tree
- Mitten Tree
- Group
- [vascular plants]
- Class
- Equisetopsida
- Subclass
- Magnoliidae
- Superorder
- Magnolianae
- Order
- Laurales
- Family
- Lauraceae
- Genus
- Sassafras
- Species
- albidum
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Record ID
- ofeo-sg_2017-0428A