Moon Day 13
Starts May 9, 2025 05:43 PM
Ends May 10, 2025 06:43 PM
Spotted some new sassafras.
Sassafras is a true native of North America and the Allegheny Mountains. According to one account:
Native Americans prized sassafras; to them the tree was a veritable medicine chest. They used all of its parts to concoct medicines for an amazing array of maladies from coughing, diarrhea and sore eyes to wounds, rheumatism, scarlet fever and measles. They also used sassafras leaves to season food and the wood to build canoes. Upon learning of the reported therapeutic benefits of the plant, early colonists and explorers were quick to promote the merits of the plant in Europe. In 1565, Sir Francis Drake returned to port with a load of sassafras roots. During the early 1600s, Sir Walter Raleigh further fueled demand for sassafras when he exported it to England from the Virginia Colony. Upon hearing of the medicinal and culinary values of sassafras, the demand for what at the time many thought was a wonder drug soared. By the 1600s, sassafras exports from Georgia and other New World colonies rated second in value only to tobacco.
Sassafras trees can reach a height of one hundred feet, but they are usually smaller and here in the northern Alleghenies often appear as shrubs in thickets. Three distinctive kinds of leaves often appear on the same tree: un-lobed oval-shaped leaves, mitten-shaped (both left and right-hand mittens), and tri-lobed. All parts of the tree, including leaves, bark, and roots, have a distinctive fragrance, which has been described as a combination of star anise, cinnamon, citrus, and vanilla.
Sassafras was one of the original flavorings used to make root beer (including the famous Hires Root Beer), and the dried and ground-up leaves were used as a thickener in soups, stews, and, in the South, gumbos. The fresh leaves were added to soups and stews as an alternative to bay leaves (both sassafras and bay belong to the same botanical family, Lauraceae). Sassafras tisane—often called sassafras tea, although of course the only true tea is an infusion of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis—made from the roots was once a very popular drink, and sassafras in tea-type bags were sold in stores. My mother always kept some on hand. Then in 1976 the Federal Food and Drug Administration ruled that sassafras could no longer be sold in stores because it contained the chemical safrole, believed to be a carcinogen.
Current opinion about sassafras is all over the place. Mainstream medical opinion maintains that none of its medical properties have been clinically proven and that consumption of even small amounts of sassafras can be harmful. One authority maintains that: “The possible health benefits of sassafras tea don’t outweigh the possible risks. You should not take sassafras tea to treat any medical condition or improve your general well-being.” Yet sassafras continues to have its advocates. Although no longer available in grocery stores sassafras root is still for sale on the internet, including mainstream outlets like amazon.com (how sellers avoid the ban is unclear). There are also numerous Facebook pages and other social media that tout its benefits. I collect sassafras root and consume sassafras tisane in small quantities. I usually drink it in the afternoon, around three o’clock, the dead hour of the day, the same time my mother always drank it. I find that the tisane helps overcome the accidie of mid-afternoon and eases one more-or-less painlessly into the early evening hours. The tisane is fine as it is, but occasionally I add a dollop of maple syrup to boost the effect.
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Young sassafras leaves. |
In Autumn I also collect the roots.
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| Sassafras in Autumn |
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| Sassafras in Autumn |
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| Sassafras roots |
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| Sassafras tisane |
