Sassafras
Sassafras albidum
Mitten-shaped leaves; spectacular orange-red fall color. Host for spicebush swallowtail. Dried young leaves, ground into filé powder, are the classic thickener in gumbo; the root itself contains safrole, a compound the FDA restricted from food use for its cancer risk, so it's the leaves — not root bark tea or root beer — that are the safe culinary part today.
- Family
- Lauraceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 30–60 ft
- Spacing
- 25–40 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- yellow, green, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, butterflies, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~38 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, erosion control
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WV