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Sassafras 40D0031117

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Description

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

Sassafras (White Sassafras, Red Sassafras or Silky Sassafras) is a tree native to eastern North America, from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa, and south to central Florida and eastern Texas. It occurs throughout the eastern deciduous forest habitat type, at altitudes of sea level up to 1,500 m.

Medicinal and food uses:
Sassafras oil is distilled from the root bark or the fruit. It was used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy. The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects, which makes it a nice garden plant. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes.

The essential oil was used as a pain killer as well as an antiseptic in dentistry. The pith is used in the U.S. to soothe eye inflammation and ease catarrh.

Safrole is now recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture as a potential carcinogen. Safrole, and sassafras not certified as safrole-free, have been banned in the United States as food additives or flavoring agents by the FDA since 1976 due to safrole's designation as a carcinogen. Sassafras leaves do not contain sufficient amounts of safrole to be covered by the FDA ban.

Safrole is commonly used by clandestine laboratories to synthesize various hallucinogenic drugs such as MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine), MDMA (Esctasy), and MDEA (Love). For this reason, the sale of safrole and sassafras oil is monitored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

More info: [link]
Image size
3939x3030px 3.97 MB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon EOS 40D
Shutter Speed
1/320 second
Aperture
F/11.0
Focal Length
105 mm
ISO Speed
200
Date Taken
Nov 8, 2008, 12:59:19 PM
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Comments4
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Ittiz's avatar
I notice your Sassafras' leaves seem to have more than 3 lobes commonly?