Sassafras (redirected from sassafrases)

sassafras: see laurel.

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sassafras

North American tree (Sassafras albidum) of the laurel family. The aromatic leaf, bark, and root are used as a flavouring, as a traditional home medicine, and as a tea. The aromatic roots yield about 2% oil of sassafras, once the characteristic ingredient of root beer. The tree is native to sandy soils from Maine to Ontario and Iowa and south to Florida and Texas. It is usually small but may attain a height of 65 ft (20 m) or more. It has furrowed bark, bright green twigs, small clusters of yellow flowers followed by dark blue berries, and three distinctive forms of leaves, often on the same twig: three-lobed, two-lobed (mitten-shaped), and entire.

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sassafras

1. an aromatic deciduous lauraceous tree, Sassafras albidum, of North America, having three-lobed leaves and dark blue fruits

2. the aromatic dried root bark of this tree, used as a flavouring, and yielding sassafras oil

3. Austral any of several unrelated trees having a similar fragrant bark

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sassafras [′sas·ə‚fras]

(botany)

Sassafras albidum.A medium-sized tree of the order Magnoliales recognized by the bright-green color and aromatic odor of the leaves and twigs.

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Sassafras 

a genus of deciduous trees and shrubs of the family Lauraceae. The leaves are entire, pinnate, or twice- to seven-times-lobed. The small, yellow-green flowers are in an axillary dichasium. The fruit is drupe. There are three species, distributed along the eastern seaboard of North America, in continental regions of China, and on Taiwan.

The common sassafras (S. albidum, or S. officinale), an aromatic dioecious tree reaching 20 m tall, is distributed in North America. It propagates by seeds and root suckers. The plant has been introduced into European gardens and parks; in the USSR it is found in Sukhumi. The essential oil contained throughout the plant, but mainly in the cortex of the roots, is used in perfumery. The soft, lightweight wood is used in the production of furniture, small boats, barrels, and railroad ties.

REFERENCE

Derev’ia i kustarniki SSSR, vol. 3. Moscow-Leningrad, 1954.