Sassafras Trees in Massachusetts

Growth Habit

• Sassafras plants have the potential to become small or medium-sized trees. In the southerly parts of their range, they are more likely to achieve that stature than in other locations. In Massachusetts, they are likely to become small trees or shrubs. Sassafras trees generally develop an irregular or crooked trunk and branches that tend to be at right angles to the trunk. Their bark becomes fairly deeply furrowed and their top, or crown, often becomes roughly flat. Sassafras trees and shrubs are fairly prolific at sprouting from roots and can propagate that way under favorable conditions.

Habitats

• Like so many trees, sassafras trees tolerate a range of conditions, and a narrower range of conditions are optimal or nearly optimal for them. Moist areas with fairly rich soil offer the most favorable sassafras habitats, though the plants also grow in poorer, and even sandy, soil. In marginal habitats, they are more likely to be shrubs than trees. Another habitat factor is sunlight. Some Massachusetts tree species tolerate shade, even heavy shade, and remain healthy. Sassafras trees are closer to the opposite extreme, eventually perishing in a heavily shaded forest understory; they need a site that receives full sun to partial shade.

Flowers and Fruit

• Sassafras trees are flowering plants. They also are what botanists term "dioecious," meaning male and female flowers are borne on separate sassafras trees. Both male and female sassafras flowers are yellowish green and develop in spring. Under favorable conditions, the pollinated female flowers mature and yield ripe fruit in late summer. Botanists categorize fruits according to a number of characteristics; sassafras fruit is a drupe, a sort of olive-shaped structure complete with a fleshy outside and a single seed, or pit, inside. In Massachusetts, sassafras trees seldom bear fruit.

Uses

• The various uses for sassafras ̵2; including several medicinal preparations ̵2; are common to much or all of the trees' range, including Massachusetts. Perhaps the most famous use in modern times is sassafras tea. People collect sassafras roots, boil them in water until the water, or tea, develops a dark-amber color and drink the tea with optional sweetening. The tea's flavor is distinctive and strong.