Sassafras

Sassafras is a genus that contains three^[1][2] current and one extinct^[3] species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae. It was originally in eastern North America and eastern Asia.^[2]

Sassafras
Sassafras albidum, Wanaque, New Jersey
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Magnoliids
Order:	Laurales
Family:	Lauraceae
Genus:	Sassafras J.Presl
Species
S. albidum S. randaiense S. tzumu
Synonyms
Pseudosassafras Lecomte

Sassafras trees grow from 9.1–18 m (30–59 ft) tall and from 7.6–12 m (25–39 ft) wide.^[4] The trunk grows 70–150 cm (28–59 in) across.

"Sassafras" was named by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the 16th century. It is said to be a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage.

Species

Fossil Sassafras hesperia leaf

• Sassafras albidum - Eastern North America, from southernmost Ontario, Canada, through the eastern United States south to central Florida, and west to southern Iowa and eastern Texas.
• Sassafras hesperia - Eocene Klondike Mountain Formation in Washington and British Columbia^[3]
• Sassafras tzumu - Central and southwestern China.
• Sassafras randaiense - Taiwan.