Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Laurales > Lauraceae > Lindera > Lindera triloba

Lindera triloba (sassafras)

Synonyms: Benzoin trilobum (homotypic); Lindera officinalis; Parabenzoin trilobum (homotypic); Sassafras officinale (heterotypic)

Attributes

Air Quality Improvement [1]  Low
Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-High
Carbon Capture [1]  Low
Screening - Summer [2]  Moderate
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Shade Percentage [1]  90 %
Temperature Reduction [1]  Medium
Wind Reduction [1]  Medium
Bloom Period [2]  Late Spring
Drought Tolerance [2]  High
Edible [3]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [2]  Low
Flower Type [3]  Dioecious
Frost Free Days [2]  5 months 10 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  Medium
Fruit/Seed Begin [2]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [2]  Summer
Growth Form [2]  Single Stem
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [2]  Moderate
Hazards [3]  The extracted essential oil is poisonous in large quantities; The essential il contains safrole which is known to be carcinogenic and potentially harmful to the liver; The essential oil has been banned as a food flavouring in America, even though the potential toxicity is lower than that of alcohol;
Janka Hardness [4]  630 lbf (286 kgf) Soft
Leaf Type [3]  Deciduous
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Propagation [2]  Bare Root, Container, Seed, Sprig
Root Depth [2]  18 inches (46 cm)
Scent [3]  The fruit is aromatic;
Seed Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Seed Vigor [2]  Low
Seeds Per [2]  5000 / lb (11023 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [2]  Irregular
Specific Gravity [5]  0.46
Structure [3]  Tree
Usage [3]  An essential oil is obtained from the bark of the root; One hundred kilos of root chips yield one litre of essential oil under steam pressure - this oil comprises about 90% safrol; The oil is medicinal and is also used in soaps, the coarser kinds of perfumery, toothpastes, soft drinks etc; It is also used as an antiseptic in dentistry; A yellow dye is obtained from the wood and the bark; It is brown to orange; The plant repels mosquitoes and other insects; Wood - coarse-grained, soft, weak, fragrant, brittle, very durable in the soil. It weighs 31lb per cubic foot and is used for fence posts and items requiring lightness;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  Moderate
Flower Color [2]  Yellow
Foliage Color [2]  Green
Fruit Color [2]  Blue
Fall Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Flower Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Height [3]  82 feet (25 m)
Width [3]  49 feet (15 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 4 Low Temperature: -30 F° (-34.4 C°) → -20 F° (-28.9 C°)
Hardiness Zone Maximum [1]  USDA Zone: 8 Low Temperature: 10 F° (-12.2 C°) → 20 F° (-6.7 C°)
Light Preference [2]  Full Sun
Soil Acidity [2]  Moderate Acid
Soil Fertility [2]  Infertile
Water Use [1]  Moderate
View Plants For A Future Record : Lindera triloba

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

Predators

Providers

Consumers

Shelter for 
Papilio glaucus (Eastern tiger swallowtail)[10]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1i-Tree Species v. 4.0, developed by the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station and SUNY-ESF using the Horticopia, Inc. plant database.
♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4Wood Janka Hardness Scale/Chart J W Morlan's Unique Wood Gifts
♦ 5Forest Inventory and Analysis DB version 5.1, May 4, 2013, U.S. Forest Service
♦ 6HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 7Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 8Characteristics of Some Fruiting Plant Species in Northwest Arkansas, and the Avian Assemblages that Feed on Them, John W. Prather, Kimberly G. Smith, Michael A. Mlodinow, Cecilia M. Riley, Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science,Vol. 54, 2000, pp. 103-108
♦ 9Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 10Study of Northern Virginia Ecology
♦ 11Robertson, C. Flowers and insects lists of visitors of four hundred and fifty three flowers. 1929. The Science Press Printing Company Lancaster, PA.
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0