Sassafras: An important native plant food source

Native plants play an important role in the state’s history, heritage, and identity. NC Governor Roy Cooper designated October 20-26 as North Carolina Native Plants Week in recognition of the vital role native plants play in our landscape by providing essential food resources for migrating birds, pollinators, and other wildlife. While many non-natives are well adapted to our landscapes and perfectly suitable for use, natives often have specific relationships with pollinators that non-natives may not always replicate. 

One particular native tree that I’ve always been fond of is the Sassafras, Sassafras albidum. While it is more of a forest tree than a conventional landscape tree, many of us can find sassafras poking out of the edge of a wooded area behind our home or along a roadside nearby. Occasionally used in landscapes in native- or pollinator-themed plantings, Sassafras is more typically found in undisturbed natural areas.

Sassafras is known for its brilliant fall color. Photo: P.W. Hatcher, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Sassafras is an important food source for a wide range of insects and animals in NC.  It supports larval stage Imperial moths and Spicebush swallowtails, which feed primarily on the foliage. Its fruits are eaten by eastern bluebirds, red-eyed vireos, quail, wild turkeys, kingbirds, crested flycatchers, mockingbirds, sapsuckers, pileated woodpeckers, yellowthroat warblers and phoebes, black bears, beaver, rabbits, and squirrels.
 
Ornamentally, sassafras is interesting in a number of ways. It is a deciduous tree with early spring blossoms. Flowers are small and yellow, and borne in clusters at the tips of branches before the leaves emerge. They remind me in many ways of red maple and other Acer species, in terms of flower shape and bloom time, though not in color. When the foliage does appear shortly after blooms conclude, Sassafras are remarkable in that each individual leaf can take any of three distinct shapes – a simple oval shape, a three-pronged trident shape, or a mitten-like oval with a single lobe offset to one side. Though this characteristic is perhaps more of a botanical curiosity that appeals to plant nerds like me than a visually stunning feature, it is notable because most plants simply don’t have this distinction.  Red and black fruit appear in fall, which are attractive and a favorite food of many animals.

Above left: Sassafras flower, up close. The small yellow flowers bloom in early spring. Photo: B. Dobbs, CC BY-NC 4.0  
Above right:  Note the vivid oranges and yellows on the leaves in the fall. Photo: J. Dollar. CC BY-NC 4.0
Left:  Sassafras are remarkable in that each individual leaf can take any of three shapes: a simple oval, a three-pronged trident, or a mitten-like oval with a single lobe offset to one side. This is very unusual in the plant world. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY-NC 4.0

But more so than any other ornamental feature, Sassafras is notable for its brilliant fall color. Leaves that are green throughout spring and summer change to various shades of yellow, orange, and red in the fall. Though the foliage color varies a bit from plant to plant and season to season, a sassafras with predominately orange fall foliage is truly something to behold. 
 
All parts of the sassafras tree are aromatic. One can easily appreciate the scent by lightly scratching away some bark or crushing a leaf or two. Sassafras tea and other drinks are made from the roots. Root beer, in fact, used to be flavored primarily by sassafras roots. The leaves can also be dried and ground into powder, which can be used as a thickening agent when cooking gumbo. 
 
Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center.  If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.