Oops, I'm late to the party this morning! Seems I stirred up some fun memories for you. Good! That's just what I wanted to do.
I've been craving sassafras tea since I wrote this article and some of you have it growing right there at your place. Some morning you're going to wake up and I'll be out there digging in your woods, Vic.
Sasparilla. I might be wrong but I thought that was a vining plant. I remember the word and I remember the taste of the drink, but I don't remember anything about it as a plant. Tell you the truth, if I didn't learn about it from Aunt Bett, I just don't know, which also means if it didn't grow in the Appalachians, I wouldn't recognize it. And if you notice, my knowledge is mostly limited to medicinal plants, or what was once considered medicinal.
But I'm so glad so many of you know or remember sassafras. Chelle, you're our young one, and you have a treasure growing in your yard. I hope you enjoy having it as much as I did. If given the opportunity, they tend to get fat and wide, or at least the one that grew in my great grandparents' yard did. It was a gorgeous tree, short and sturdy enough that it was never threatened by winds. The tree was older than I was, and only in about 2002 when it was damaged by lightening was there a problem with it. We lost it the following year because of the damage. That's the last time I had sassafras tea, too.
Thanks for the links, Ann.
And thanks to all of you for reading the article. Enjoy your memories!
