PlantFiles: Sassafras, Saxifras, Tea Tree, Mitten Tree, Cinnamonwood
Sassafras albidum

I purchase an organic product with the main ingredient being sassafras oil. It is used as a topical application. I use it to treat a dreadful condition called flystrike which happens to my sheep. The purpose of the sassafras in the product is to kill the maggots, heal the skin and deter flies. I have found this to be very accurate. I would like to know if this tree is available and will grow in the NorthIand in New Zealand.

Sassafras is usually found in sandy soil that is shaded in Beaumont and surrounding areas. When I was growing up I would dig up small saplings to get the roots so that I could make sassafras tee, I would also remove the leaves and dry them in the microwave. After the leaves were dried I would put them in the blender and grind them to the consistency of dust to use as 'file' in my father's gumbo. My father said he preferred my homemade file over store bought file because mine had a fresher/greener taste.

I have to agree with pdrardin - I moved into a new home with quite a few skinny little sassafras trees in the yard, which is at the edge of a wooded area. I love the fall color, but now that we're clearing some small areas and trying to plant the yard, I have all these little saplings sprouting up, apparently in places where the contractor cut down existing trees. They suck all the water and compete for nutrients, and my new plantings have a very tough time acclimating. I hate the little suckers! If all I had were existing trees, fine - but the invasive saplings springing up from unknown depths are driving me batty!

These trees have unique, medium to large mitten-shaped leaves that smell good when crushed. In southern NJ I have seen a wild variant growing occasional four-"thumbed" leaves. Fall color can be a lovely bright yellow.

No one I know has had success transplanting existing trees -- they have a long taproot that gets broken, or else they turn out to be root-suckers that are secretly dependent on a neighboring large tree. Container-grown plants have worked, provided the roots don't get waterlogged.

The dark berries are presented on upright, red stalks to birds and other animals that like them. Sassafras is dioecious, so not all trees will fruit.

dave's picture is a female inflorescence and hczone6's picture shows the male flowers.

I'm doing my best to rid my new 'old' yard of literally dozens of unwanted & officially identified sassafras seedlings which have been extremely invasive since I cut down most of a small grove of semi-mature trees w/o removing the entire root system. Before then or since, I've not yet laid eyes on any berries, or decent fall color. Perhaps this is a different variety of sassafras (believe there's 4), or maybe it's our central GA climate? Regardless, enough of sassafras!

I read that there are male trees with male flowers and female trees with female flowers; does this mean that I need to buy another tree to have berries for the birds?

This is a beautiful tree with many, many positives: its attraction to birds, bees, butterflies; its medicinal use, its fall colors, its drought tolerance and its rapid growth.
BUT it is potentially very poisonous to ingest; it has caused unwanted abortions in pregnant women and the sassafras oil is prohibited due to its contribution to liver cancer in mice.

CONCLUSION: Enjoy the beauty, but keep it away from your mouth!

I love the smell of this plant, but could never figure out what it was until I came here. This tree (it's about 40 ft tall) seems to thrive in my small yard. In one year, an approximatey 20 ft radius of unmowed grass has yeilded about 10-20 seedlings, each anywhere from 2' to 4' tall. I would be tempted to call them invasive just because of the coverage I'm seeing from year to year, but if caught around the 2' stage, they seem to be easy enough to remove.

I found a number of these baby trees at my Dad's farm. Very pretty!

My uncle had one of these trees in his yard. When it was time for the leaves to fall they would put a sheet on the ground to collect the leaves. Once the leaves were collected they would lay them out in his barn to let them dry. Once they were dry they would smash the leaves to a fine substance to make file' which is used in gumbo. Unfortunately the tree is now gone, it was taken by hurricane rita.

This is one of my favorite native trees, & one that I am lucky to have many of here on the farm. We also had quite a few of them when we lived in Long Island, NY.

While they don't appear to be picky as far as soil conditions, they do prefer full sign or very semi-shady conditions, & here at least, are always found at woodland edges, rather than understory. As mentioned above, clusters of medium (as in larger than a wild or chokecherry) blackish purple oval fruits may appear on mature trees in late summer/early fall, & they are favorites of many birds - the large Pileated Woodpeckers here in particular.

It is almost impossible for me to pass one without removing one of the leaves & crushing it to release that fabulous spicy-fresh scent.

Left to itself, this tree will form fairly dense colonies producing leggy, weak trees.

My Cuban grandmother suggested I make a weak sassafras tea and give it to my baby son (almost 50 years ago now) when he suffered from severe diaper rash. It worked.

A worthwhile tree to plant. Can be difficult to transplant (long tap root) so it's best to use small ones. Fast growth rate. Prune young trees to form a single trunk which is best for landscape planting. Listed as one of the best fall color trees to use in my region. Reportedly planting in full sun will optimize those colors. Although it's native to where I currently and temporarily reside in Orlando, FL, the nearest place that sells it is about an 8 hour drive from here. Luckily Dave's Garden offers links to sellers that have the plant and will ship it in ideal small sizes.

Sassafras trees grow wild in the fencerows in theis area and rarely do you see on in someone's yard. They are quite pretty with their unique leaves and lovely fall color.

Teas are traditionally made from the roots and file powder from the leaves. Use should be cautious because they have been found to potentially contain carcenogens.

The sassafras is an aromatic decidious tree that grows to between 20 and 50 ft. in height.It is native to the Eastern parts of North America and also grows in canada. The bark of the tree varies from a red to orange through to shades of brown and grey. The flowers are small and geenish-yellow and are produced in large clusters in April and May. The leaves are either oval or lobed in shape and turn a vivid red or orange in Autum. The flowers are often followed by dark blue berries, which ripen in september.

The parts that are used are the dried leaves and also the root-bark. Tea is made from the rust-brown root bark using 2 tablespoons per half pint of boiling water.

Sassafras is a stimulant and a diuretic. It has been used to treat colds and feavers by inducing the body to prespire and is also found favorable as herbal tonic. Herbal doctors have prescribed sassafras to treat cases of skin eruption,gout, and rheumatic conditions.

Native to the eastern U.S., this is a fast growing tree to 20-25' eventually reaching 50-60'. Very interesting leaves that may be oval, mitten shaped, or lobed on both sides. Very reliable fall color in the south with yellow, orange, and red shadings on the same tree.

This is a pleasantly aromatic tree with the root barks sometimes used to make a tea whose flavor is reminiscent of root beer. The tree's volatile oil contains safrole which has been carcinogenic in animals. File, the thickening agent in Louisiana gumbos, is derived from the sassafras tree.