Sassafras grows wild on my property. It grows rapidly, and colonizes/spreads from root runners rampantly. My neighbor reportly had a real big sassafras tree on his property that he cut down and used for lumber, but I don't have any trees any taller than about ?30' tall. The most important thing for sassafras is fast drainage - I never find it in the bottom of the hollow on constantly wet soil, and when I dug up one a while back and potted it up to plant elsewhere, it got root rot and died, because I over watered it. I don't think it's too particular as to soil type, and it grows in sun, shade, and part sun/shade. It's a nice tree/shrub, unless you don't want a plant that spreads.
It's a great wildlife plant, being the prime host plant in most areas for spicebush swallowtails, that is, they lay their eggs on it, and caterpillars grow by eating its leaves. The females only lay a few eggs on each tree, and usually just one on a small ground sprout, so your sassafras trees never get defoliated - what little bit the caterpillars eat grows back quickly. Here's a picture I made the other day of a male spicebush swallowtail -
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Birds just LOVE the fruit!! The mockingbirds and brown thrashers actually fought over it year before last when the females made fruit, which they don't do every year. Obviously, it comes in male and female, so if you want fruit, you'll need both.
Sherry

We used to yank up the young trees, clean the roots, and boil them for sassafras tee- loved it. I guess it's considered unhealthy now.

I grew up in NW Arkansas, and if you were to poke around in the Ozarks you'd probably find some you could have, since it spreads by runners.

Good luck,

M

Sassafras is difficult to transplant appparently because the nurseries around here (SW Missouri) don't carry it. I was told that the Forrest Keeling nurseries in Elsberry Missouri(wholesale)can successfully produce seedlings (they have a patented way of creating an improved root system through a program of air-root pruning.) Perhaps you can get one of the local nurseries to order for you?

Hello Hergrammy- I'm curious where you are in SW MO. I'm from Eureka Springs AR., and we used to run up to Neosho or Seligman fairly often. We took a senior day to Branson. Uh, that was in 1967 ...

I didn't realize that Sassafras is difficult to transplant, but I'll take your word for it. It grows pretty readily in the right conditions "back there", but that's not the same thing. Thanks.

Best,

Mark

Around here people report much better success when they collect seeds and plant them. Moving young trees doesn't seem to work well, if ever. Seems strange since lots of suckers grow up around existing trees and give the appearance of a very vigorous grower. I'm not sure if transplanting would be difficult everywhere. We are near the northernmost edge of the sassafras range.

Hi Mark,

Used to live in Bella Vista before it became so overcrowded. I've been to Eureka Springs several times. Live outside of Joplin now. Are you having a late spring too? I am so anxious for the weather to break. Are your dogwoods blooming yet?
I seem to recall reading that Sassfras tea is carcinogenic?? All I know is that the earth smells wonderful when you dig around its roots. Had it in Bella Vista in the commons.

Thank you Sherry for the beautiful picture. One nursery around here carries sassafras, but it is pretty pricy. It sounds like it would do well on the back of our property. It would have to grow about 30' from a large walnut tree of the neighbors. Since both are natives to the area I wonder if they would be ok together, you know with that horible walnut toxin. I know both honey and black locust don't mind the walnut.

I have relatives in mid/south Missouri, I will ask them if they have access to any seed.

Back atcha, Hergrammy.

Well, my Spring is late too, but that's partly because I live in Montana now, haven't been to Arkansas for years (I'm waiting for the statute of limitations on adolesence to expire). But your mention of the dogwoods took me back. Used to love the redbuds and mimosa too.

I've been to-through Joplin many times, still have a brother in Lawrences, KS, and all my Mom's folks are in Illinois and Iowa. Can't beat midwesterners.

Our lows are in the high teens and low twenties right now- chilly even for us. But a sluggish Spring might provide longer snowpack and a slower runoff, and that's a good thing.

I remember reading about the question of sassafras and cancer, but don't know if anything was ever definitively determined. I thought that "Root Beer" used to use sassafras, but I'm sure it's artificially flavored now anyway. The smell of sassafras is wonderful.

Can sassafras be grown from seed? I don't know, but recall some kind of somethin' growing on it. A quick Googling suggests that it is propagated by soot suckers and seed both. And I'll attatch a link that seems to answer all these questions.

Best to you,

M

Here is a link that might be useful: Sassafras information

I'm new to this site, so I don't know the zone means. Anyway, I live in Phoenix Arizona and I am trying to obtain sassafras seeds, or buy a tree to plant. Can someone give me advice on which route to go....

Thanks
MoonShadow9

There are at least 4 different gardening zone systems, but about 99% of the time, gardeners discussing zone are talking about the USDA Hardiness Zone System. The map, linked below, is based on the average annual minimum temperature for each area. Using zone ratings is the most popular way to determine if a plant will survive in a certain area. A couple of things to remember about the system is that it cannot take into account microclimates or special growing conditions, and, because of climate change and weather pattern shifts, many places are now warmer (a few are actually colder) than the map indicates. The zones were based on weather data from 1974 to 1986. If you want to read more about this system, check out the USDA's explaination at http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/index.html
Other systems have been proposed, but the USDA system is still considered the standard and is the most widely used.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Hardiness Zone Map

BTW, MoonShadow9, your hardiness zone (according to Garden Web's zipcode to hardiness zone converter) is 9, but Arizona is a mess when it comes to hardiness zones. I couldn't tell you how well a Sassafras albidum will do there. Most sources list zone 9 as the upper limit for this plant.

If you do decide to get an existing plant, I would recommend transplanting it in late fall. I have had excellent luck doing this. So far I have never lost a single Sassafras when transplanting. I wait until all the leaves have fallen before digging it and try to get as much root as possible (sometimes that hasn't been much but they still did great).

Hi, I am new to this site and I'm not sure what my zone is. It might be 9?? I live in Central Florida. I am looking for site where I can buy Sassafras seeds.
I was hoping if I get Sassafras, the Spicebush caterpillars will stop eating my Pentas.
Any help would be appreciated.
Beautiful picture Missherry.

You could ask someone in the seed exchange to collect some for you. The berries ripen in late summer.

It grows quite well in Northern Mississippi, so I don't think that Zone 9 is a requirement.

We have Sassafras growing as an understory below hickories in East Tennessee; two were over eighty feet tall before dying in a severe drought a few years ago. HereÂs some information on safrole:

"Safrole is shown to be a weak carcinogen in rats.[4] It naturally occurs in a variety of spices such as basil, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper. In that role safrole is believed, although not proven, to make a small but measurable contribution to the overall incidence of human cancer.[5] In the United States, it was once widely used as a food additive in root beer, sassafras tea, and other common goods, but was banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after its carcinogenicity in rats was discovered. Today, safrole is also banned for use in soap and perfumes by the International Fragrance Association.
According to a 1977 study of the metabolites of safrole in both rats and humans, it was shown that two carcinogenic metabolites of safrole found in the urine of rats, 1'-Hydroxysafrole and 3'-Hydroxyisosafrole, were not found in human urine. This brings to question the actual carcinogenicity of safrole in humans.[6]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safrole

Mosume, I doubt seriously that spicebush caterpillars are eating your pentas - they stick to members of the laurel family. Tersa sphinx moths now lay more eggs on non-native pentas than buttonweed/diodia, the principal natural host. Tersa caterpillars have the rear horn typical of sphinx moths cats, and they come in green and brown. Do your caterpillars look like one of these? These were eating buttonweed -
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Sherry

Missherry, yes they look exactly like the light green one. Thank you. Any idea where I can get buttonweed?
Thanks also for letting me know what zone I am in.

Diodia is a weed that nobody wants, so you'll have trouble finding seeds or plants to buy. Prairie Moon or other seed companies might carry it - Google it to find out. You can find it growing in wet places once warm weather is here to stay, and the flowers are the easiest way to ID it. You could transplant some of the wild weed from ditches (if it's not growing somewhere on your property) and transplant it to a wet area of yours, then transfer the very young caterpillars to the weeds. Actually, there are several types of diodia, but I'm not familiar with any but the kind that likes it real wet.
It's very difficult to keep tersa sphinx moths from laying eggs on your pentas - I have both diodia and pentas, and they use the pentas more.
Here's a picture of an adult tersa sphinx moth, an early tersa instar and a tersa sphinx egg -
Adult -
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Egg -
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Early Instar (near hatchling) Caterpillar - I really had trouble getting this picture, the cat was so little. It was much smaller than it looks in this picture -
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Sherry

Just a word of warning about Sassafras--they're very intolerant of wind. We have several established trees bordering our property, and in just about every big storm, they lose one or more large branches. The limbs are brittle. I paid for my neighbor to remove some of them, after I paid twice to repair my roof. They're invasive here, where they grow naturally.

Sassafras tea made with fresh young roots is fantastic, tea made with old root bark is , well... not all that great. The amount of safrole used in the rat studies would equate to a person drinking about 25 gallons of tea a day; too much of a good thing I would say. When transplanting Sassafras, smaller is better, a one inch seedling out grew a three foot transplant after the first summer. The wood of Sassafras is very brittle so not good in high wind areas and with time can attain a height of about 60 to 70 feet, that is the largest tree I have personally seen so far.
Ken

Sorry all, I meant to say 50 to 60 feet.
Ken

Sassafras trees seem to be dying off in my area, and I can't help but think maybe it's the same disease that is killing redbay trees.

I would love to plant some Sassafras trees on my property but I am afraid of attracting more Japanese beetles. Last year they almost killed a beautiful young Linden before I figured out what was going on. Now that I have done some reseach, it turns out that I have the same taste as the beetles. We have a new house with very little landscaping. This summer is my tree year and I don't want to make costly mistakes. I already have a mountain ash, the linden and two london plane trees, all of which the beetles apparently like. They only attacked the linden last year. Would it be possible to make a mass planting of four o'clocks to draw them away and kill enough of them for me to plant some sassafras, or should I just play it safe and plant some oak trees?