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Sassafras |
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Saxifras |
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Tea Tree |
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Mitten Tree |
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Cinnamonwood |
Plant Habit: | Shrub Tree |
Life cycle: | Perennial |
Sun Requirements: | Full Sun Full Sun to Partial Shade |
Water Preferences: | Mesic |
Soil pH Preferences: | Moderately acid (5.6 – 6.0) Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5) |
Minimum cold hardiness: | Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F) |
Maximum recommended zone: | Zone 9b |
Plant Height: | 30 to 50 feet |
Plant Spread: | 30 to 50 feet |
Leaves: | Good fall color Unusual foliage color Deciduous Fragrant |
Fruit: | Edible to birds |
Fruiting Time: | Late summer or early fall |
Flowers: | Blooms on old wood Other: a little bit showy |
Flower Color: | Yellow Other: Chartreuse |
Flower Time: | Spring Late spring or early summer |
Underground structures: | Taproot |
Uses: | Dye production Shade Tree Culinary Herb Medicinal Herb Will Naturalize Useful for timber production |
Edible Parts: | Leaves Roots Fruit |
Eating Methods: | Tea Culinary Herb/Spice |
Wildlife Attractant: | Bees Birds Butterflies |
Resistances: | Deer Resistant Drought tolerant |
Propagation: Seeds: | Stratify seeds: moist cold strat for 3 months |
Propagation: Other methods: | Cuttings: Root |
Miscellaneous: | Tolerates poor soil Dioecious |
Conservation status: | Least Concern (LC) |
Do you like gumbo? How about hot tea? There's nothing better on a cold winter day than hot soups and hot drinks. How does sassafras enter into the picture? Climb up the mountain with Aunt Bett and me and we'll tell you.
(Full article • 55 comments)
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Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Jan 20, 2018 8:44 PM The Common Sassafras is a beautiful small to medium tree of the Laurel Family. It grows in open woods or woodland edges or in open fields in upland sites from New England down to central Florida over into eastern Texas & Oklahoma, most of Missouri, through central Illinois, through all Indiana up into most of lower Michigan into the southern tip of Ontario. It grows about 1.5 to 2 feet/year and lives up to about 100 years. It develops a taproot and coarse lateral roots, so it is not easy to transplant. I did transplant a few young trees about 3 feet high volunteering for Tyler Arboretum one early spring, carefully making nice rounded soil balls. Sometimes Sassafras can develop a colony from ground suckers, but many times it does not. It gets bright red fall color in full sun, but can turn yellow or orange in some shade. The female trees bear some dark blue-purple berries in August-September and are eaten by birds. A few larger, diverse nurseries sell some and some native plant nurseries sell some for naturalistic landscapes. I don't see it planted by homeowners hardly at all, though there are two planted in a yard a few blocks away from me. Some landscape designers use it in professional landscapes or in parks. I think it should be planted in landscapes more often. [ Reply to this comment | |
Posted by Sharon (Calvert City, KY - Zone 7a) on Nov 16, 2011 11:21 PM The sassafras tree is a native of eastern North America. It's an aromatic deciduous tree growing to around 40 feet. It has a rough gray bark; its bright green alternate leaves are oval with one to three lobes. It flowers around May, greenish yellow flowers that appear before the leaves. They are followed by pea sized fruits. [ Reply to this comment | |
Posted by SongofJoy (Clarksville, TN - Zone 6b) on Nov 26, 2012 12:26 PM Sassafras are most often seen as an understory shrub beneath larger trees such as Virginia Pine, Eastern White Pine, Sweetgum, Yellow Poplar, or oaks. They often grow alongside Black Cherry, American Beech, American Hornbeam, Eastern Red Cedar, as well as others. [ Reply to this comment | |
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Oak tree in Texas #1 by wildflowers | Apr 13, 2016 7:00 AM | 36 |
sassafras, does it, or don't it. by Coppice | Mar 18, 2015 1:03 PM | 6 |