by Liliana Usvat
Blog 261-365
This tree of the eastern and southeastern United States is entirely aromatic—wood, bark, roots, branches, and leaves. Locally, sassafras tea made from its roots has long been a spring tonic. Bark may be taken from the tree’s roots, then boiled; the resultant drink, taken internally, is an active diuretic.
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Other Uses
Other uses of sassafras include using the dried leaves to make file' for use in Creole and Cajun cooking (most notably gumbo), for aromatherapy, and for fragrance in perfume and soap.
The root or root bark is used to make tea.
The First Nation peoples utilize sassafras in flavouring foods and in herbal remedies. The roots are used to provide root beer flavour. It is also an important ingredient in Cajun and Creole gumbos.
It is also used as a tea.
Reforestation
This species is adapted to a wide variety of habitats but it must have very well drained soils, usually sandy loam but not heavy clay. It has outstanding fall color ranging from orange to deep red and the pyramidal shaped tree can be quite stunning when it reaches its maximum height of 60' tall. It has small inconspicuous
It prefers rich, well-drained sandy loam with a pH of 6–7, but will grow in any loose, moist soil. Seedlings will tolerate shade, but saplings and older trees demand full sunlight for good growth; in forests it typically regenerates in gaps created by windblow.
Growth is rapid, particularly with root sprouts, which can reach 1.2 m in the first year and 4.5 m in 4 years.
Root sprouts often result in dense thickets, and a single tree, if allowed to spread unrestrained, will soon be surrounded by a sizable clonal colony, as its stoloniferous roots extend in every direction and send up multitudes of shoots.
Sassafras requires full sun for best growth. It is difficult to transplant; container- grown stock, seed or seedlings are recommended. It is intolerant of road salt and ozone pollution. Root suckering is prevalent in sassafras. It is less likely to send up suckers if its roots and stems are not damaged or disturbed.
Sassafras is a fire-adapted species. It is quite resilient to such disturbance, and post- fire regeneration occurs in several forms or strategies: adventitious buds at root crowns (suckering), ground residual colonizer (i.e., existing seed bank), initial offsite colonizer (i.e., seed dispersal) and crown residual colonizer (remaining undamaged stems). Sassafras can also be found in late seral stages of succession.
It can maintain a presence in climax forest stands in the canopy layer by gap-phase regeneration. It has been found that by maintaining a presence in the shrub layer (as stunted individuals, viable ramets (roots) of existing individual trees, seedlings or via the seed bank), this tree is able to exploit canopy gaps.
The ripe fruit are sought by squirrels and many birds (bluebirds, catbirds, vireos and quail). These same animals are the disseminating vectors. Sassafras serves as a host plant for one of our most spectacular butterflies, the colourful spicebush swallowtail.
Description
It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15–20 m tall, with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter, and a crown with many slender branches. The bark on trunk of mature trees is thick, dark red-brown, and deeply furrowed.
The female bears lustrous dark blue fruit (with a fleshy layer surrounding one or more seeds) on bright scarlet stalks in late summer (reminiscent of a golf ball on tee). Good seed crops are produced in alternate years.
FLOWERING
Small greenish yellow flowers appear before the leaves in the early spring, which makes the trees look like clouds of gold when viewed against a dark background. Most individual trees are either male or female (dioecious).
Parfume Use
An essential oil, called sassafras oil, is distilled from the root bark or the fruit. It was used as afragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy. The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects,which makes it a nice garden plant. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes.
Blog 261-365
This tree of the eastern and southeastern United States is entirely aromatic—wood, bark, roots, branches, and leaves. Locally, sassafras tea made from its roots has long been a spring tonic. Bark may be taken from the tree’s roots, then boiled; the resultant drink, taken internally, is an active diuretic.
Other Uses
Other uses of sassafras include using the dried leaves to make file' for use in Creole and Cajun cooking (most notably gumbo), for aromatherapy, and for fragrance in perfume and soap.
The root or root bark is used to make tea.
The First Nation peoples utilize sassafras in flavouring foods and in herbal remedies. The roots are used to provide root beer flavour. It is also an important ingredient in Cajun and Creole gumbos.
It is also used as a tea.
This species is adapted to a wide variety of habitats but it must have very well drained soils, usually sandy loam but not heavy clay. It has outstanding fall color ranging from orange to deep red and the pyramidal shaped tree can be quite stunning when it reaches its maximum height of 60' tall. It has small inconspicuous
It prefers rich, well-drained sandy loam with a pH of 6–7, but will grow in any loose, moist soil. Seedlings will tolerate shade, but saplings and older trees demand full sunlight for good growth; in forests it typically regenerates in gaps created by windblow.
Growth is rapid, particularly with root sprouts, which can reach 1.2 m in the first year and 4.5 m in 4 years.
Root sprouts often result in dense thickets, and a single tree, if allowed to spread unrestrained, will soon be surrounded by a sizable clonal colony, as its stoloniferous roots extend in every direction and send up multitudes of shoots.
Sassafras requires full sun for best growth. It is difficult to transplant; container- grown stock, seed or seedlings are recommended. It is intolerant of road salt and ozone pollution. Root suckering is prevalent in sassafras. It is less likely to send up suckers if its roots and stems are not damaged or disturbed.
Sassafras is a fire-adapted species. It is quite resilient to such disturbance, and post- fire regeneration occurs in several forms or strategies: adventitious buds at root crowns (suckering), ground residual colonizer (i.e., existing seed bank), initial offsite colonizer (i.e., seed dispersal) and crown residual colonizer (remaining undamaged stems). Sassafras can also be found in late seral stages of succession.
It can maintain a presence in climax forest stands in the canopy layer by gap-phase regeneration. It has been found that by maintaining a presence in the shrub layer (as stunted individuals, viable ramets (roots) of existing individual trees, seedlings or via the seed bank), this tree is able to exploit canopy gaps.
The ripe fruit are sought by squirrels and many birds (bluebirds, catbirds, vireos and quail). These same animals are the disseminating vectors. Sassafras serves as a host plant for one of our most spectacular butterflies, the colourful spicebush swallowtail.
Description
It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15–20 m tall, with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter, and a crown with many slender branches. The bark on trunk of mature trees is thick, dark red-brown, and deeply furrowed.
The female bears lustrous dark blue fruit (with a fleshy layer surrounding one or more seeds) on bright scarlet stalks in late summer (reminiscent of a golf ball on tee). Good seed crops are produced in alternate years.
FLOWERING
Small greenish yellow flowers appear before the leaves in the early spring, which makes the trees look like clouds of gold when viewed against a dark background. Most individual trees are either male or female (dioecious).
Parfume Use
An essential oil, called sassafras oil, is distilled from the root bark or the fruit. It was used as afragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy. The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects,which makes it a nice garden plant. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes.
