Sassafras Uses

The sassafras tree grows in the southern and eastern United States and as far south as into Mexico. In the northern U.S., the tree grows only 7 to 8 feet high, but it may grow as tall as 100 feet high in the south. The crushed leaves and bark produce a lemony aroma. The fuzzy, yellow-green leaves, bark and roots have a variety of medicinal and cooking uses.

Sassafras Tea

• Steep the bark of the sassafras tree to make sassafras tea. The tea produces a stimulating effect much like coffee. The tea can treat gastrointestinal, liver and kidney complaints; rheumatism; skin problems; and colds. It uses also include blood purification, according to Altnature.com.

Root Beer

• Early colonists made root beer by boiling sassafras roots with molasses and allowing the mix to ferment. Manufacturers no longer make root beer with sassafras, according to Drugs.com, because of concerns that it may cause cancer.

Medicinal Use

• Native Americans employed sassafras for healing long before the arrival of the Europeans. Sassafras has stimulant, analgesic, astringent, abortifacient, diuretic, vasodilator and anti-inflammatory properties. The Native American healers utilized all parts of the tree to treat many different kinds of ailments including heart problems, obesity, diarrhea, rheumatism, colds, coughs, eyesores, childbirth fever and nosebleeds. The Native Americans considered it safe enough to give to people of all ages, including infants and children.

  The herb may cause vomiting, hallucinations and stupor. According to Drugs.com, the FDA has banned the sale of sassafras herb because it can be toxic in excessive doses and may be carcinogenic.

  Healers applied the oil of the tree externally to stop the sting of insect bites and to treat lice infestations. Traditional healers employed sassafras infusion to treat gout, rheumatism, sprains, skin problems and swellings.

  The University of Florida reports that healers utilized sassafras tonic to treat syphilis in the 1600's. People chewed sassafras bark to break tobacco dependence.

Cooking Uses

• Cooks thicken and favor meats, stews and soups with dried and powdered leaves and pith. Dried powdered roots and leaves make gumbo file, a key ingredient in many Cajun foods.

Agricultural Uses

• Sassafras grows quickly and restores depleted soil. Farmers and naturalists may plant sassafras in areas where a natural disaster has destroyed the local flora to stop erosion. Native Americans planted the flowers with seeds, allowing the flowers to nurture the seed as fertilizer.

Construction

• Sassafras wood is durable. Native Americans and colonists used the wood to make watercraft because it is lightweight. The wood was chosen to make cabinets, buckets, posts and many other useful items.