sassafras albidium - sassafras

This tree grows from 30 to 60 feet tall with a diameter of 1.5 feet or larger.   This aromatic plant can be a tree or a thicket-forming shrub with various shaped leaves and a narrow, spreading crown of short, stout branches.  The leaves are elliptical, often with two mitten-shaped lobes or three broad and blunt lobes that are not toothed.  The leaves are shiny green above, paler, and often hairy beneath.  The bark is gray-brown, becoming thick and deeply furrowed.  The flowers are 3/8" long and yellow-green, with several being clustered at the end of leafless twigs in the early spring.  Male and female flowers are usually on separate trees.  The fruit is 3/8" and is in the form of elliptical, shiny bluish-black berries, each in a red cup on a long red stalk.  The berry contains 1 shiny brown seed.

The roots and bark supply oil of sassafras (used to perfume soap) and sassafras tea, and has also been used to flavor root beer.  Colonists thought the root bark was a cure all and shipped quantities to Europe.

This tree is found in moist, particularly sandy soils of uplands and valleys.  It is often found in old fields, clearings, and forest openings.  It flowers in the spring.  Fruits mature in autumn.