Sassafras J. Presl

The genus Sassafras L. ex Nees, in the family Lauraceae, comprises three extant species: S. albidum (Nutt.) Nees (from eastern North America), S. tzumu (Hemsl.) Hemsl. (from the Yangtze River Basin of China) and S. randaiense (Hayata) Rehder (from Taiwan) (Grimshaw & Bayton 2009). This disjunct distribution is a not-uncommon occurrence in the plant kingdom. The progenitor of the North American species is conjectured to have diverged from the Asian progenitor 13–16 mya (Zhang et al. 2023). The two Asian species diverged just 0.7–2.2 mya. There are three known extinct Sassafras species (S. hesperia, S. ashleyi, S. columbiana) (Wolfe 1987) present in the Eocene and Miocene fossil record of Washington state, USA and British Columbia, Canada that serve to link the extant species geographically near the former Bering land bridge between present day Alaska and Russia.

The genus was founded on Sassafras albidum, the species first encountered by European explorers in North America in c. 1528. The origin of the name ‘sassafras’ is however unclear (Robinson 2005). It has been in use since at least 1566 when Spanish botanist Nicolás Monardes was taught this name by a French Huguenot returning from Florida. Monardes subsequently mentioned this in his 1569 work Historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales (Monardes 1569; Frampton 1596; Oxford English Dictionary 2023). The French, and the Spanish that followed them, had been given sassafras by the Native Americans in Florida as a disease cure. One possible origin of the name sassafras is the mispronunciation of the word saxifrage (as saxifrax) because one of the medicinal uses of S. albidum was to break up kidney and gall stones and saxifraga is Latin for ‘stone breaker’. Another conjectured origin is a mispronunciation and anglicization of one of the Native American terms for S. albidum, such as the Narragansett word sasaunckpâmuck (O’Brien 2005; Williams 1643) or the Onondagas word swanaggerachs (Horsford 1887).

Today, many plants have been given a common name derived from sassafras or an epithet sassafras because their leaves or bark produce a scent similar to S. albidum or produce an oil that is rich in safrole (also known as sassafras oil). Examples include Atherosperma moschatum (Black or Southern Sassafras), Cinnamomum oliveri (Black Sassafras), Cinnamomum virens (Red-barked Sassafras), Cryptocarya laevigata (Grey Sassafras), Doryphora sassafras (Yellow Sassafras), Magnolia virginiana (Swamp Sassafras), Massoja aromatica (Southern Sassafras), Ocotea sassafras (Brazilian Sassafras) and Umbellularia californica (California Sassafras).

Sassafras species possess aromatic compounds used for defence against insects (Gad & Pham 2014) and plant competition/allelopathy (Gant 1971). These compounds have a sweet scent and pleasant flavour and have long been used by humans for culinary and medicinal purposes (Hutson & Cupp 2000). Young leaves can be used in salads while older leaves and root or stem pith can be used to flavour and thicken soups. Leaves, root bark and flowers can be used to make tea. The fruits are edible but are generally only consumed by birds, which do not mind the bitter taste.

Steam distillation of the dried root bark of many Lauraceae members produces sassafras oil. Although sassafras oil from S. albidum was once used as a flavouring in root beer and confections, this is no longer legal in the US and Europe since safrole is a carcinogen and has been banned as a food additive. Sassafras oil has historically been used externally as a pain reliever for insect bites and as an ointment to repel insects. The oil is still used as a flavouring agent in modern medicines and as an ingredient in perfume, soap and as an insecticide or a synergist used with other insecticides (Cross et al. 2017). Sassafras oil is used as a precursor chemical in the production of MDMA / Ecstasy and this use has resulted in its being listed as a controlled chemical in Europe and the United States (French 1995). This illicit use of sassafras oil has also resulted in the overharvesting of certain Lauraceae in South America and south Asia leading to population declines (Blickman 2009).

All Sassafras require fertile, acidic or neutral soil and will perform best in warm gardens. Propagation is usually easy from root cuttings (though apparently not so for S. randaiense – q.v.); or naturally produced root suckers can be detached. Seed sown very fresh germinates quickly. Dormant seed requires 4 months or more of moist, cold stratification (Chen et al. 2022). Seeds are disseminated in nature by birds or via moving water.