Tree · Lauraceae
Sassafras
Sassafras albidum
Plant it for fiery fall color and mitten-shaped leaves, and give its wandering roots room to roam.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 4–9
30–60 ft · 9.1–18.3 m
Overview
Sassafras is a native eastern tree known for two things: leaves that come in three shapes on the same branch, from an unlobed oval to a two-lobed mitten to a three-lobed glove, and a fall display that runs through orange, red, and deep purple. Crush a leaf or scratch the bark and you get the warm, spicy scent that gave the tree its old kitchen and root-beer reputation.
It grows fast and wants full sun to partial shade in moist, acidic, well-drained ground, and it shrugs off cold down to zone 4. Left alone, a single tree rarely stays single. Its shallow roots send up suckers that knit into a thicket, which is wonderful for a wild edge and a headache in a tidy lawn.
The catch is in the roots and bark. They carry safrole, the compound behind the famous aroma, and it is a liver toxin the FDA pulled from the food supply in 1960. Grow sassafras for its looks and its wildlife value, not for the teapot.
Care
The short version: give it full sun to part shade, moist and acidic well-drained soil, steady water while young, and room for the roots to wander, then keep on top of the suckers if you want a single trunk.
Light
Sassafras does best in full sun, where the fall color burns brightest, but it takes partial sun and partial shade in stride. A young tree will lean toward the light, so give it open sky if you can.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist while the tree is young, watering every 7 to 14 days as it gets going. Once established it handles drought well. It wants moist, well-drained ground and resents sitting in soggy clay.
Soil
Plant in moist, acidic, well-drained loam or sandy soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. It puts up with clay and dry sites, but alkaline ground can leave the leaves yellow and chlorotic.
Temperature
This is a tough, cold-hardy tree that takes winters down to -29°F (-34°C) and summers up to 100°F (38°C). That range covers most of the temperate eastern US without any fuss.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor air suits it, so there's nothing to measure or adjust. Good airflow does more good than any humidity target, since it keeps the minor leaf fungi in check.
Feeding
An established sassafras barely needs feeding. On poor ground, a balanced slow-release tree fertilizer in spring is plenty, and a tree in decent soil can go without entirely.
Pruning
Prune in late winter to take out dead or crossing branches and to clip off root suckers if you want a clean single trunk. You can also cut the whole thing to the ground every 2 to 3 years to hold it at shrub height.
Repotting
Sassafras is a tree for the open ground, not a pot. Its deep taproot makes container growing and the moving of established plants hard, so choose the planting spot with care and leave it there.
Size & spacing
Give it real room. A mature tree reaches 30 to 60 feet (9 to 18 m) tall and spreads 25 to 40 feet (7.6 to 12 m) wide, and that is before the suckers widen the colony.
When to plant
Sassafras follows the seasons of its native woods. Set young plants out in spring once the frost has passed, watch for greenish-yellow flowers from March to May as the leaves unfurl, and look for bluish-black drupes on red stalks in late summer to early fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Not typical; seed needs cold-moist stratification, so sow outdoors in fall or stratify 2-4 months before spring sowing
- Plant: Spring, after the last frost, using young container or root-sucker plants
- Harvest: Greenish-yellow flowers March to May before or with leaf-out; bluish-black drupes on red stalks ripen late summer to early fall
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Most sassafras trouble is either the tree spreading where you'd rather it didn't or a pest working the leaves. The one real threat is laurel wilt in the southeast. Match what you see below and act early.
Branches wilting and dying back fast with dark streaks in the wood
This is laurel wilt, a fungus carried by the redbay ambrosia beetle that clogs the sapwood and kills a tree once it takes hold. Watch for pinhole beetle entry holes and toothpick-like tubes of frass on the trunk, plus dark staining under the bark, and confirm it with a diagnostic lab if you garden in the southeastern range. There is no cure, so the only real step is to remove and chip or burn affected trees and never move untreated wood that could carry the beetle along.
Fix:
- No effective cure once infected; remove and properly dispose of (chip or burn) dead and dying trees to reduce beetle breeding sites
- Do not move untreated wood that could spread the beetle
A thicket of new shoots rising from the ground around the tree
This is root suckering, and sassafras does it with real vigor as a way of cloning itself across the ground. Disturbing or cutting the shallow lateral roots only stirs up more of it. Mow or cut the suckers down through the season, dig out the ones you can with a length of root attached, and use a buried barrier or a mowed strip to hold the colony in check.
Fix:
- Mow or cut suckers to the ground repeatedly through the season
- Dig out unwanted suckers with attached root where practical
- Install a root barrier or maintain a mowed strip to contain the colony
Chewed, skeletonized leaves with spots or blotches
Chewed leaves usually point to Japanese beetles and other feeding insects such as scale, while the spots come from leaf spot fungi or powdery mildew. On an established tree this is almost always cosmetic and not worth much worry. Knock the beetles into soapy water, rake up fallen leaves to cut down on fungal spores, and reach for horticultural oil only when scale gets heavy.
Fix:
- Hand-pick or knock Japanese beetles into soapy water
- Tolerate minor leaf spot; rake and remove fallen leaves to reduce fungal inoculum
- Treat heavy scale infestations with horticultural oil
Toxicity
Treat the roots, bark, and oil of this tree as off-limits to eat. They hold safrole, a compound that harms the liver and is listed as a likely carcinogen, banned from food since 1960. The leaves are low-risk to touch, but keep people and animals from chewing the woody parts or drinking homemade teas.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Caution
The aromatic roots and bark hold safrole, a compound that damages the liver, so a cat that gnaws or licks them is the worry rather than brushing past the leaves. Keep cut roots, bark, and any sassafras oil well out of reach.
Dogs Caution
A dog that chews bark, digs at roots, or gets into sassafras oil takes in safrole, which is hard on the liver over time. The leaves themselves are low-risk, but the woody parts are not, so block access to fallen branches and stored roots.
Horses Caution
Browsing the bark or roots exposes a horse to the same liver-toxic safrole. Fence them off from a tree within reach and clear away any prunings that land in the paddock.
Rabbits Caution
A small animal needs only a small dose, so let rabbits nibble neither the bark nor the roots where the safrole concentrates. Keep them clear of the trunk and any cuttings.
Livestock Caution
Cattle, goats, and sheep that strip bark or chew exposed roots take in safrole, which loads the liver. Watch grazing animals near the tree and pull any felled wood out of the pasture.
Birds Caution
Wild birds eat the ripe bluish-black drupes without trouble, but the safrole sits in the woody roots and bark, not the fruit. Keep caged or backyard birds from pecking at bark or root pieces.
People Caution
Traditional teas and file powder come from this tree, but safrole is a hepatotoxin and a likely carcinogen that the FDA banned as a food additive in 1960. Homemade root or bark teas and sassafras oil are not safe in any quantity, so leave them be and keep children from chewing the bark.
Foliage contact is low-risk, but do not let people or pets chew or ingest roots, bark, or sassafras oil. Avoid homemade root/bark teas and oil.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Sassafras is almost always grown as the wild species, so there isn't a long list of cultivars to choose between.
Sassafras albidum (species)
This is the standard native form, grown for its three different leaf shapes and its brilliant orange-red-purple fall color, and almost no named cultivars are in cultivation.
How to propagate
Sassafras is best multiplied from its own roots and suckers rather than from cuttings, though patient gardeners can raise it from stratified seed.
SeedModerate
Sow outdoors in fall, or cold-moist stratify 2-4 months and sow in spring · Several months to germinate; 1-2 seasons to establish
Sassafras seed sits dormant until it has been through a cold, moist spell, so either sow it outdoors in fall or stratify it for 2 to 4 months and sow in spring. Clean the fleshy pulp off the fruit first. Expect several months before it germinates and a season or two before the seedling is truly settled in.
Stem cuttingsDemanding
Dig dormant root pieces or detach rooted suckers in late winter to early spring · One growing season
The easiest route is to dig dormant root pieces or lift the rooted suckers the tree throws up, working in late winter to early spring while it is dormant. Given a single growing season these settle in well. Moving a larger plant rarely works because of the deep taproot.
LayeringModerate
Spring · One to two seasons
Sassafras layers itself naturally through its spreading root suckers, so in spring you can sever a small one and move it. Give it one to two seasons to root down and stand on its own.
Myths
Sassafras root and root-beer flavoring are a harmless natural health tonic.
The compound that gives the root its scent, safrole, is a hepatotoxin and a likely human carcinogen. It caused liver tumors in lab animals, and the FDA banned safrole and sassafras oil as food additives back in 1960. A natural origin does not make the old root tonics safe to drink.