Sassafras albidum
Sassafras
- Hardiness: Zone :
- 4
- Plant Type:
- Tree
- Geography:
- Native
- Light:
- Sun, Sun/Part Shade
- Growth Rate:
- Moderate
- Moisture:
- Moderately Wet to Moderately Dry, Dry to Occasionally Moist, Needs Good Drainage
- Special Features:
- Drought Tolerant
- Container Sizes:
- 2-gallon, 7-gallon
- Mature Height:
- 35'
- Mature Spread:
- 15'
Native tree of well-drained soils and uplands. In our area, sassafras is found in gorges and dry woods. Foliage has exceptional mystique, with some leaves mitten-shaped, some like 3-toed footprints, and some simply roundly oval with no lobes. All occur on the same tree which is fun to show kids and plant enthusiasts. Soft yellow flowers show up before the leaves, and then in summer, deep blue pea-sized fruits are held on orange-rimmed red stalks, all dazzling to behold. The birds love them, so the fruit is easy to miss. Sassafras can make a large single trunk tree, or, if cut, will sucker. Can be maintained as a multi-stemmed shrub if pruned regularly when young, but wants to be a tree.
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Article: The Plantsmen Nursery