Sassafras

Sassafras albidum

Also known as Sassafras Tree, White Sassafras, Cinnamon Wood, Ague Tree, Filé Tree

At a glance

Family

Lauraceae (laurel family)

Type

Deciduous tree

Parts used

Young leaves (dried into filé powder), fall foliage, aromatic wood and twigs

Size

30 to 60 feet tall in the open woods, occasionally taller on old growth

Bloom

Small clusters of yellow-green flowers in early spring, just before the leaves unfurl

Habitat

Eastern North American woodlands, fencerows, old pastures, and forest edges from Ontario down to Florida

Acquisition

Forage

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

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Thickens and flavors gumbo

Traditional folk tonic history

Brilliant fall color tree

Storied colonial trade root

Traditional uses

✦

Long before it flavored root beer, sassafras grew at the center of a whole colonial economy. Indigenous peoples across the Southeast and mid-Atlantic used the root, bark, and pith in folk remedies for fevers, colds, and skin complaints, and taught early European settlers to do the same. By the 1600s, sassafras root was one of the first American exports shipped back to England, prized as a cure-all and a fragrant curiosity. Its most enduring legacy today is culinary rather than medicinal, the dried, ground young leaves became filé powder, the thickener and seasoning at the heart of Louisiana Creole and Cajun gumbo.

How to grow & use it

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🔒

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Pairs well with

✦Bay leaf
✦Thyme
✦Okra

Substitutes

✦Okra (as a gumbo thickener)

Choose it when

“For the tree that colored colonial ships' holds and still turns a woodland edge gold, orange, and scarlet every autumn.”

Did you know?

Sassafras root bark once flavored nearly every bottle of root beer in America, until the FDA banned safrole, its principal aromatic compound, from food and drink in 1960 after studies linked it to liver tumors in animals. Today's root beer flavor comes from safrole free substitutes, and true sassafras tea has largely vanished from kitchen cabinets for the same reason.

Safety

Sassafras root bark and the essential oil distilled from it are rich in safrole, a compound the U.S. FDA banned as a food and beverage additive in 1960 after research linked it to liver damage and liver cancer in animal studies; it is also classified as a possible human carcinogen. Historically, concentrated sassafras oil and strong root teas were used as folk abortifacients and can cause vomiting, liver injury, and in extreme doses death, so ingestion of the root, bark, or oil is not considered safe today and should be avoided entirely, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding or with any liver condition. The dried leaf used as filé powder in cooking contains far less safrole than the root bark and is the traditional culinary form still used in small seasoning amounts, but it is not a substitute for medicinal use of the root. Talk with a qualified healthcare provider or herbalist before using any part of this plant beyond its established culinary role.