Sassafras, Sassafras albidum
The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The young leaves can be added to salads whilst both old and young leaves can be used as a flavouring and as a thickening agent in soups etc. They have a mild aromatic flavour.
The leaves are often dried and ground into powder for later use.
The young shoots have been used to make a kind of beer.
The dried root bark can be boiled with sugar and water until it forms a thick paste. It is then used as a condiment.
The root and the berries can also be used as flavourings.
Winter buds and young leaves are edible raw.
A tea is made from the root bark, it is considered to be a tonic. The tea can also be made by brewing the root in maple syrup, this can be concentrated into a jelly. A tea can also be made from the leaves and the roots. It is best in spring. A tea can be made from the flowers.
Sassafras has a long history of herbal use. It was widely employed by many native North American Indian tribes who used it to treat a wide range of complaints, valuing it especially for its tonic effect upon the body. A tea made from the root bark is particularly renowned as a spring tonic and blood purifier as well as a household cure for a wide range of ailments such as gastrointestinal complaints, colds, kidney ailments, rheumatism and skin eruptions.