Sassafras albidum
SASS-uh-frass
m
al-bee-duhm
(Nutt.)Nees
Sassafras
It grew wonderfully along the train tracks in Roselle, Union County, New Jersey, and I can still remember finding Spicebush Swallowtail larvae in great abundance in their leaf furls on "bushes" only a few feet high. The cutting along the tracks probably produced the low growth thickets from root suckers.
In Pottersville, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, I can remember trees in open areas and also along woodland edges, growing in partial shade. Callosamia promethea cocoons could often be found hanging from leaf-free branches in mid winter.
Generally Sassafras grows in mesic (moderately moist) hardwood forests, but is also found in dry open woods, fence rows, abandoned fields and disturbed areas.
The leaves (fragrant when crushed) are distinct and interesting. Most have three lobes, a big one in the center and two smaller ones along the sides. Some leaves (3-7 inches long) have a large center lobe and a single smaller lobe, resembling a mitten. Attractive fall foliage is yellow, orange, pink and scarlet.
The small, showy, yellow-green flowers, borne in two inch racimes, appearing in early to mid-spring (before leaf out), occur as separate sexes on male and female trees (dioecious).
Dark shiny blue, ovoid, fleshy drupes (1/3 inch long) mature in late summer in a red cup attached to a red upright stalks on female trees.
The slender green twigs also have a spicy-sweet aroma when broken. Buds are 1/4 inch long and green. Young twigs display at a uniform sixty degree angle from the main stem.
The brown outer bark is underlaid with a cinnamon-brown inner bark, becoming coarsely ridged.
Most of the trees I observed were twenty to thirty feet tall with an irregular often twisted trunk and main branches, but they will grow straight to sixty feet tall in open areas. The crown is usually flat-topped or slightly convex.
Mature trees have a deep tap root so transplanting large trees is difficult. It is probalby best propagated from seeds which should be sown in fall and allowed to overwinter outdoors. Growth (up to four feet the first year) is rapid in sunny conditions.
You might be able to transplant small trees or suckers in the spring. Root suckers can probably be induced by spading (knicking or cutting roots of existing trees) in the spring.
Hardy in zones 4-9, this is a tree worth cultivating if you have room.
Sassafrasis one of the preferred foodplants for Callosamia promethea. It has also been reported as a suitable host for Antheraea polyphemus, Automeris io, Attacus atlas, Callosamia angulifera (start larva directly in sleeve from egg on live food), Eacles imperialis, Hyalophora cecropia, Rothschildia orizaba and Samia cynthia.
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