Sassafras
Mother's Herb Garden
July/August 1983
By the Mother Earth News editors
Lately, more and more people hove begun to understand just how limited-in both variety and nutritional value--our"modern" diets have become. This realization has sparked o new and wide spread interest in the culinary and therapeutic uses of herbs . . . those plants which-although not well known today-were, just one short generation ago, honored "guests" on the dinner tables and in the medicine chests of our grandparents' homes. In this regular feature, MOTHER will examine the availability, cultivation, and benefits of our "forgotten" vege table foods and rem edies . . . and-we hope-help pre vent the loss of still another bit of ancestral lore.
Winauk, cinnamon wood, ague tree, sassafrax, or saloop . . . by whatever common name it goes, sassafras (Sassafras ofcinale, S. albidum, S. variffolium, or Laurus sassafras) is one of the wild treasures of North America. Legend has it that the windborne fragrance of the trees enabled Columbus to persuade his mutinous crew that land was near . . . and the herb is still one of the spicier delights to be found on a walk in the woods. Western historians have generally attributed the "discovery" of sassafras to the Spaniards exploring Florida, but American Indians from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico had been using the plant for hundreds possibly thousands-of years before the explorers arrived.
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Sassafras was known primarily as a medicinal herb to the Indians and, later, to the Europeans, who shipped great quantities to shops in England and on the Continent. The leaves could be made into teas and poultices, while the root bark was either chipped or crushed and then steeped in boiling water-one ounce of bark to one pint of water-and taken in doses of a wine glassful as often as needed to reduce fevers . . .soothe chronic rheumatism, gout, and dropsy . . .relieve eye inflammation . . .ease menstrual and parturition pain . . .help cure scurvy and various skin conditions . . . and act as a disinfectant in dental surgery. Because it was thought to be a blood purifier and effective against excess mucus discharge, the plant was even regarded as a cure for syphilis and gonorrhea.
The volatile oil of sassafras, which contains safrole, was also used to combat assorted ailments, the usual dosage being from one to five drops in boiled water. More than this small amount of essence could be dangerous: One teaspoon of the pure oil is enough to cause vomiting, dilated pupils, stupor, spontaneous abortion, collapse . . .and even death! Despite the possibility of adverse effects from overdoses, however, sassafras oil was often employed as a flavoring. In fact, it was used to cover the taste of opium in potions given to many nineteenth century children to keep them quiet and "well behaved".
