The Facts You Should Know About Sassafras

COMMON NAMES: Sassafras is known as Saxifrax, saloop, ague tree, and cinnamon wood. Moreover, it is sold in some areas under the name of salap or saloop.

FEATURES: The sassafras tree is a member of the Lauraceae family, which consists of two species native to Asia, and one native to America’s east coast. Sassafras trees grow from Maine, southern Ontario, and Michigan to Texas and Florida in the U.S. and Canada. The shrub may reach 100 feet in height and 6 feet in diameter but is usually smaller and shrubby.

Dark reddish-brown bark with deep furrows, layered fractures, and short, corky cracks, with many oil cells is soft and brittle. You can see green twigs on the young branches. Sassafras’ heartwood has a deep orange-brown color and is resistant to decay. Younger shoots or twigs may have three-lobed leaves instead of mitten-shaped leaves on older branches that are bright green above. Their colors change from yellow to orange to pink and deep red in autumn. During April and early May, small greenish flowers appear. Birds eagerly eat the fruit pistils, which ripen into blue drupes. There is an aromatic, agreeable taste and fragrance to the bark.

Sassafras is credited for helping to discover America in Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts, in 1894. Columbus was persuaded of the land’s proximity by the aroma of the trees that were blowing in the wind. In particular, safrole oil found in sassafras is no longer considered safe for human consumption.

MEDICINAL PARTS: The main medical part is Root bark. The oil and wood of the sassafras tree were both used in dentistry. Sassafras was also used as an early dental anesthetic and disinfectant because of its aromatic properties. Early toothbrushes were made from sassafras twigs or wood.

USES: It was eagerly sought and shipped to Europe by early explorers and settlers in the New World who were told by the Native Americans it would cure diverse ailments. It is widely used in domestic medicine as a spring renovator to thin and purify the blood. J. H. Greer tells us: “People with thin blood should not use sassafras.” It would enhance the positives.

Applied to rheumatism and varicose ulcers, it is effective in relieving menstrual pain, afterbirth pain, and skin eruptions. Alcohol’s narcotic effect is countered by it. Essential oil relieves toothaches. In order to enhance the flavor of other compounds and make their properties more digestible, sassafras is used with them. To treat fevers, diarrhea, and rheumatism, Native Americans used infusions of the root bark. Decades ago, it was also used to flavor root beer and scent perfume.

Commercialization: There are numerous commercial products that use piperonyl butoxide, including insecticide synergistic compounds. Asia and Brazil are the primary markets for these plants.

CAUTION: Internal consumption of sassafrass oil can damage the liver and kidneys. A cup of boiling water and one ounce of crushed or chipped bark is sufficient for one ounce of bark to be infusion 15 to 30 drops of tincture minims.

EXTERNALLY: Uclers with ill-conditioned skin can benefit from a root poultice. An excellent application for bruises and swellings is to use the oil as an ingredient in liniment.

BAN: Sarsaparilla and sassafras both contain safrole, which was recently banned due to its carcinogenic effects by the FDA. In rats, safrole and sassafras or sarsaparilla-containing products were found to cause liver cancer when given in high doses.

SOLVENTS: Boiling water, alcohol.

BODILY INFLUENCE: Stimulant, diaphoretic, aromatic, tonic, diuretic, alterative.

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