Sassafras

Sassafras is a genus that contains three current and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae. It was originally in eastern North America and eastern Asia.

Sassafras
Sassafras albidum, Wanaque, New Jersey
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Magnoliids
Order:	Laurales
Family:	Lauraceae
Genus:	Sassafras J.Presl
Species
S. albidum S. randaiense S. tzumu
Synonyms
Pseudosassafras Lecomte

Sassafras trees grow from 9.1–18 m (30–59 ft) tall and from 7.6–12 m (25–39 ft) wide. The trunk grows 70–150 cm (28–59 in) across.

"Sassafras" was named by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the 16th century. It is said to be a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage.

Species

Fossil Sassafras hesperia leaf

• Sassafras albidum - Eastern North America, from southernmost Ontario, Canada, through the eastern United States south to central Florida, and west to southern Iowa and eastern Texas.
• Sassafras hesperia - Eocene Klondike Mountain Formation in Washington and British Columbia
• Sassafras tzumu - Central and southwestern China.
• Sassafras randaiense - Taiwan.

Sassafras Media

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  S. albidum is a host plant for the spicebush swallowtail.

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  Pistillate (female) flowers

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  Sassafrass....the trees are dioecious ... males and females on separate trees. While they do have plenty of flowers they are rarely visited by bees. Perhaps it is more of fly pollination system.

Other websites

Media related to Sassafras at Wikimedia Commons