Sassafras Essential Oil
Sassafras is native from southwestern Maine west to New York, extreme southern Ontario, and central Michigan; southwest in Illinois, extreme southeastern Iowa, Missouri, southeastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, and eastern Texas; and east to central Florida. Sometimes called white sassafras, is a medium-sized, moderately fast growing, aromatic tree with three distinctive leaf shapes: entire, mittenshaped, and threelobed. Little more than a shrub in the north, sassafras grows largest in the Great Smoky Mountains on moist welldrained sandy loams in open woodlands. It frequently pioneers old fields where it is important to wildlife as a browse plant, often in thickets formed by underground runners from parent trees. The soft, brittle, lightweight wood is of limited commercial value, but oil of sassafras is extracted from root bark for the perfume industry.
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| Botanical Name: | Sassafras albidum (Nutt.)Nees |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Synonyms: | Sassafras officinale, Laurus sassafras, Sassafras varifolium, Common sassafras, North American sassafras, sassafrax. |
| See Also: | |
| Parts Used: | Dried root bark. |
| Extraction Method: | Steam Distillation |
| Appearance: | Yellow brown liquid |
| Aroma Description: | Fresh, woody spicy, camphoraceous |
| Perfume note: | |
| Consistancy: | Thin |
| Strength of Initial Aroma: | |
| Blends well with: | |
| Historical Uses: | Has been used for treating high blood pressure, rheumatism, arthritis, gout, menstrual problems and skin complaints. |
| Modern Uses: | Not used in aromatherapy. Some use in perfumery. |
| Cautions: | Highly toxic, carcinogenic, abortifacient |
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