Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees

Mitten tree (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Laurales > Lauraceae > Sassafras

Characteristics

A small tree. It grows up to 20-30 m high. The trunk is 50 cm across. The branches are spreading, crooked and brittle. The bark is orange-brown. The leaves are alternate and simple. The leaves fall off during the year. The leaves are 10-15 cm long. They have a blunt tip and the base is wedge shaped. The leaves have 3 prominent veins. There may be 1, 2 or 3 lobes to the leaf. Leaves turn yellow or red in autumn. They have a spicy odour when bruised. The flowers are small and greenish-yellow. The male and female flowers are often on separate trees. They occur in loose clusters at the base of new shoots. These are 5 cm long. The fruit are like berries. They are 10-15 mm long and dark blue. They have one large stone-like seed. The fruit is in a red cup on a long red stalk.
More
Trees , to 35 m. Twigs pale green with darker olive mottling, terete. Leaf blade ovate to elliptic, unlobed or 2-3-lobed (rarely more), 10-16 × 5-10 cm, apex obtuse to acute. Inflorescences to 5 cm, silky-pubescent; floral bract to 1 cm. Flowers: fragrant (sweet, lemony), glabrous; tepals greenish yellow. Staminate flowers: inner 3 stamens with 2 conspicuously stalked glands near base of filament, filament slender; pistillodes usually absent (sometimes present in terminal flower of inflorescence). Pistillate flowers: staminodes 6; style slender, 2-3 mm; stigma capitate. Drupe ca. 1 cm; pedicel reddish, club-shaped, ± fleshy. 2 n = 48.
Shrub or tree to 30 m; bark becoming deeply furrowed; lvs long-petioled, silky beneath at least when young, with 3 main veins, highly variable in form, ovate and entire to 2–3(–5)-lobed, often asymmetrical; fls greenish-yellow, produced at the branch-tips of the previous year, expanding with the lvs of the season; peduncles and pedicels at first short, later red and to 1 cm; fr blue, ellipsoid, 1 cm; 2n=48. Disturbed woods, thickets, roadsides, and old fields; s. Me. to Mich. and Mo., s. to Fla. and e. Tex. Apr., May. (S. variifolium)
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 2.0
Mature height (meter) 22.9 - 25.0
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) 0.95
Root diameter (meter) 0.7
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It grows naturally in thickly wooded areas in Eastern North America. It can grow on a variety of soils. It can tolerate shade. It grows on the edges of mixed forests. It cannot tolerate alkaline soils. It suits hardiness zones 5-9.
More
Deciduous woodlands and thickets on rich sandy well-drained soils. Forests, woodlands, fencerows, old fields (sometimes aggressively colonial), and disturbed areas; at elevations up to 1,500 metres.
Light 5-8
Soil humidity 2-5
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 2-6
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 5-9

Usage

CAUTION The safrole which gives flavour to root beer can cause cancer, but it is only one fourteenth as carcinogenic as ethanol in ordinary beer. The oil from the roots is used to flavour root beer. The roots are added to maple syrup and brewed into a tea. The spicy bark of the trunk and roots is dried and used for flavouring. The leaves are used for tea. They are also added to soups. The young buds are eaten.
Uses beverage cosmetics dye essential oil fiber food fragrant oil gum incense material medicinal oil spice tea timber wood
Edible barks flowers fruits leaves roots shoots
Therapeutic use Anthelmintic (bark), Antidiarrheal (bark), Cold Remedy (bark), Dietary Aid (bark), Pediatric Aid (bark), Blood Medicine (bark), Tonic (bark), Analgesic (bark), Antiemetic (bark), Ceremonial Medicine (bark), Dermatological Aid (bark), Emetic (bark), Eye Medicine (bark), Febrifuge (bark), Gastrointestinal Aid (bark), Laxative (bark), Oral Aid (bark), Urinary Aid (bark), Dermatological Aid (leaf), Tonic (leaf), Antidiarrheal (root), Cold Remedy (root), Oral Aid (root), Blood Medicine (root), Misc. Disease Remedy (root), Anthelmintic (root), Febrifuge (root), Gynecological Aid (root), Hypotensive (root), Orthopedic Aid (root), Heart Medicine (root), Tonic (root), Dermatological Aid (root), Sedative (root), Antiemetic (root), Antirheumatic agents (root), Gout (root), Skin diseases (root), Eye Medicine (shoot), Anthelmintic (unspecified), Antirheumatic (Internal) (unspecified), Blood Medicine (unspecified), Dermatological Aid (unspecified), Eye Medicine (unspecified), Misc. Disease Remedy (unspecified), Venereal Aid (unspecified), Unspecified (unspecified), Hemostat (unspecified), Hypotensive (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified), Burn Dressing (unspecified), Stimulant (unspecified), Analgesic (unspecified), Antidiarrheal (unspecified), Antiemetic (unspecified), Cathartic (unspecified), Cold Remedy (unspecified), Cough Medicine (unspecified), Gastrointestinal Aid (unspecified), Other (unspecified), Pediatric Aid (unspecified), Throat Aid (unspecified), Urinary Aid (unspecified), Alterative (unspecified), Anodyne (unspecified), Antiseptic (unspecified), Astringent (unspecified), Bronchitis (unspecified), Cancer (unspecified), Carminative (unspecified), Catarrh (unspecified), Demulcent (unspecified), Dentifrice (unspecified), Depurative (unspecified), Diaphoretic (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Dysentery (unspecified), Emmenagogue (unspecified), Fatality (unspecified), Gout (unspecified), Repellant(Insect) (unspecified), Kidney (unspecified), Massage (unspecified), Medicine (unspecified), Mouthwash (unspecified), Pediculicide (unspecified), Perfume (unspecified), Respiratory (unspecified), Rheumatism (unspecified), Rubefacient (unspecified), Scurvy (unspecified), Skin (unspecified), Sore (unspecified), Sudorific (unspecified), Swelling (unspecified), Syphilis (unspecified), Tea (unspecified), Toothache (unspecified), Viricide (unspecified), Weaning (unspecified), Cold (unspecified), / (unspecified), Carcinogenic (unspecified), Dentistry (unspecified), Eye (unspecified), Fungicide (unspecified), Hypertension (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from suckers from the roots. They can also be grown by seeds or cuttings.
Mode cuttings seedlings suckers
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) 3
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Sassafras albidum habit picture by Eli Small (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum habit picture by jimseng jimseng (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum habit picture by cthulhu mittens (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Sassafras albidum leaf picture by Shawn Russell (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum leaf picture by Danilo Diedrichs (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum leaf picture by Darius Lysandre (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Sassafras albidum flower picture by Díaz Mondría Gonzalo (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum flower picture by Crystal Osborn (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum flower picture by Sophie Mullinax (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Sassafras albidum fruit picture by Deedra Alexander (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum fruit picture by jimseng jimseng (cc-by-sa)
Sassafras albidum fruit picture by Adam Gonnerman (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Sassafras albidum world distribution map, present in Canada and United States of America

Conservation status

Sassafras albidum threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30245337-2
WFO ID wfo-0001071258
COL ID 79QLB
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Laurus albida Sassafras officinarum Persea sassafras Sassafras rubrum Sassafras variifolium Laurus sassafras Sassafras officinalis Sassafras triloba var. mollis Sassafras albidum var. molle Sassafras albidum var. albidum Sassafras variifolium var. albidum Sassafras officinale var. albidum Tetranthera albida Sassafras albidum