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{{SPlantbox
|familia=Lauraceae
|genus=Sassafras
|common_name=Sassafras
|habit=tree
|habit_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|Min ht box=9
|Min ht metric=m
|Max ht box=18
|Max ht metric=m
|height_ref=Wikipedia
|Min wd box=7.6
|Min wd metric=m
|Max wd box=12
|Max wd metric=m
|width_ref=Wikipedia
|lifespan=perennial
|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|features=deciduous, fragrance
|Temp Metric=°F
|image=Sassafras7.jpg
|image_width=200
}}
'''''Sassafras''''' is a genus of three<ref name="fna"/><ref name="nie"/> extant and one extinct<ref name ="WW1987">{{aut|Wolfe, Jack A.}} & {{aut|Wehr, Wesley C.}} 1987. "Middle Eocene Dicotyledonous Plants from Republic, Northeastern Washington". ''United States Geological Survey Bulletin'' '''1597''':13</ref> species of [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s in the family [[Lauraceae]], native to eastern [[North America]] and eastern [[Asia]].<ref name=nie>Phylogeny and biogeography of Sassafras (Lauraceae) disjunct between eastern Asia and eastern North America, Plant Systematics and Evolution, volume 267, pages 191–203</ref>
Sassafras trees grow from {{convert|9.1|–|18|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall and spreading {{convert|7.6|–|12|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>Dirr, Manual of woody landscape plants. Page 938.</ref> The trunk grows {{convert|70|–|150|cm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth, orange-brown bark. The branching is [[sympodial]]. The bark of the mature trunk is thick, red-brown, and deeply furrowed. The wood is light, hard and sometimes brittle. All parts of the plants are very fragrant. The species are unusual in having three distinct [[leaf]] patterns on the same plant, unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three pronged); rarely the leaves can be five-lobed.<ref name=noble>Noble Plant Image Gallery [http://www.noble.org/imagegallery/woodhtml/Sassafras.html Sassafras (includes photo of five-lobed leaf)]</ref> They have smooth margins and grow 7–20 cm long by 5–10 cm broad. The young leaves and twigs are quite [[mucilage|mucilaginous]], and produce a citrus-like scent when crushed. The tiny, yellow [[flower]]s are five-petaled and bloom in the spring; they are [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with male and female flowers on separate trees. The [[fruit]] are blue-black, egg-shaped, 1 cm long, produced on long, red-stalked cups, and mature in late summer.<ref name=fna>Flora of North America: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=129310 ''Sassafras'']</ref> The largest Sassafras tree in the United States is located in [[Owensboro, Kentucky]].<ref>http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/kytreewebsite/pdffiles/SASSAFRAprint.pdf</ref><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1016/is_n5-6_v100/ai_15473433/ The biggest sassafras], American Forests, May-June, 1994, Whit Bronaugh</ref>
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Sassafras (Spanish, Salsafras, Saxifraga; medicinal properties similar to those of Saxifraga were attributed to it by Spanish discoverers). Lauraceae. Sassafras. Ornamental trees grown for their handsome foliage assuming beautiful tints in autumn and for their bright-colored fruit.
Sassafras (Spanish, Salsafras, Saxifraga; medicinal properties similar to those of Saxifraga were attributed to it by Spanish discoverers). Lauraceae. Sassafras. Ornamental trees grown for their handsome foliage assuming beautiful tints in autumn and for their bright-colored fruit.
Deciduous: lvs. alternate, entire or 3-lobed, slender-petioled: fls. dioecious, rarely perfect, apetalous; calyx 6-parted; stamens 9, the 3 inner ones furnished at the base with 2 stalked, orange-colored glands; staminodes 3 or wanting; anthers opening with 4 valves; ovary superior, 1-loculed: fr. an oblong-ovoid, 1-seeded, dark blue drupe surrounded at the base by the thickened scarlet calyx.—Two species, one in E. N. Amer. and one in China.
Deciduous: lvs. alternate, entire or 3-lobed, slender-petioled: fls. dioecious, rarely perfect, apetalous; calyx 6-parted; stamens 9, the 3 inner ones furnished at the base with 2 stalked, orange-colored glands; staminodes 3 or wanting; anthers opening with 4 valves; ovary superior, 1-loculed: fr. an oblong-ovoid, 1-seeded, dark blue drupe surrounded at the base by the thickened scarlet calyx.—Two species, one in E. N. Amer. and one in China.
The sassafrases are handsome trees of pyramidal habit with rather large, entire or 3-lobed leaves and small yellow flowers in few-flowered racemes appearing in spring with the leaves and followed by ornamental dark blue fruits on red fleshy stalks. The native species is hardy North, while the Chinese one which is still little known in cultivation is somewhat tenderer. The American sassafras usually affects light lands, although it may grow in clay loams. It is a desirable tree for ornamental planting on account of its handsome light green foliage, which is interesting with its varying shapes and its orange-yellow or bright red color in autumn, and on account of its decorative bright-colored fruit. It prefers, at least in the North, a warm and sunny position. It is not easily transplanted when old on account of its long tap-roots. Propagation is by seeds sown as soon as ripe; also by suckers, which are often freely produced, and by root-cuttings.
The sassafrases are handsome trees of pyramidal habit with rather large, entire or 3-lobed leaves and small yellow flowers in few-flowered racemes appearing in spring with the leaves and followed by ornamental dark blue fruits on red fleshy stalks. The native species is hardy North, while the Chinese one which is still little known in cultivation is somewhat tenderer. The American sassafras usually affects light lands, although it may grow in clay loams. It is a desirable tree for ornamental planting on account of its handsome light green foliage, which is interesting with its varying shapes and its orange-yellow or bright red color in autumn, and on account of its decorative bright-colored fruit. It prefers, at least in the North, a warm and sunny position. It is not easily transplanted when old on account of its long tap-roots. Propagation is by seeds sown as soon as ripe; also by suckers, which are often freely produced, and by root-cuttings.{{SCH}}
{{Otheruses4|the Sassafras tree}}
}}
}}
==Cultivation==
===Propagation===
== Uses ==
===Pests and diseases===
It is also used in the manufacture of the drug [[ecstasy]], and as such, its transport is monitored internationally.
==Species==
*''[[Sassafras albidum]]'' (Nuttall) Nees - '''Sassafras''', '''White Sassafras''', '''Red Sassafras''' or '''Silky Sassafras'''. Eastern North America, from southernmost [[Ontario]], [[Canada]] through the eastern [[United States]] south to central [[Florida]], and west to southern [[Iowa]] and eastern [[Texas]].{{wp}}
*''[[Sassafras tzumu]]'' (Hemsl.) Hemsl. - '''Chinese Sassafras''' or '''Tzumu'''. Central and southwestern [[China]]. It differs from ''S. albidum'' in the leaves being more frequently three-lobed,<ref name=esveld>Arboretum Trompenburg: [http://www.esveld.nl/plantdias/51/51682.jpg ''Sassafras tzumu'' photo]</ref> the lobes having a tapered acuminate apex (not rounded to weakly acute).{{wp}}
*''[[Sassafras randaiense]]'' (Hayata) Rehd. - '''Taiwan Sassafras'''. [[Taiwan]].{{wp}}
==Gallery==
<gallery perrow=5>
Image:Upload.png| photo 1
Image:Upload.png| photo 2
Image:Upload.png| photo 3
</gallery>
==See also==
==References==
<references/>
*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
<!--- xxxxx *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381 -->
<!--- xxxxx *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432 -->
<!--- xxxxx *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608 -->
==External links==
*{{wplink}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{stub}}
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