| Description |
Sassafras is a medium-sized, aromatic and spicy deciduous tree native to eastern North America's forests. The tree has a rounded shape and a straight trunk with thick, dark red-brown bark. Leaves have three different shapes, all of which can be on the same branch: left- and right-handed mittens and three-lobed. In the fall, leaves turn yellow, deep orange, red, and purple. Flowers hang in 5cm long racemes and trees are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. Sassafrass trees sprout roots at their base and will turn into a thicket of clones if not pruned. Trees are drought-tolerant and have deep taproots, which transplant poorly once established. Sassafrass was used by indigenous peoples as a food, spice, and medicine. Roots were the key ingredient in traditional root beer and ground leaves are a thickener and flavoring in gumbo.
|