Sassafras
Sassafras; the ague tree
- Known today as
- The root bark of Sassafras albidum.
- Kind
- Plant
- Constituents
- safrole
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Caution. Safrole is a carcinogen.
Sassafras: what was it used for?
Against the French disease, rheumatism, and fevers; shipped from Virginia in the first colonial cargoes.
Sassafras: what does modern science say?
Its safrole causes liver cancer in animals, and the United States banned it as a food additive in 1960.
Sassafras: is it poisonous?
Yes, in some form or dose. Safrole is a carcinogen. Historical description, not medical advice; in a poisoning, call a poison centre.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- Mechanism
- Safrole is activated in the liver to a DNA-binding epoxide and caused liver tumours in rodents; it is also the starting material of MDMA.
- Toxic dose
- Chronic; a cup of sassafras tea held a few milligrams.
- Standing
- Banned as a food flavouring in the United States in 1960; safrole-free extracts flavour root beer.
- IARC (1976). Monographs, vol. 10: safrole, Group 2B. Standard reference work
- Homburger, F., et al. (1961). “Toxic and possible carcinogenic effects of 4-allyl-1,2-methylenedioxybenzene (safrole).” Medicina Experimentalis 4. Verified against its record · doi:10.1159/000134986
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
In Their Own Words
Mrs Grieve suggests sassafras was probably discovered by the Spaniards in Florida, and says that seventy years before 1633 its roots were reputed in Spain as a cure for syphilis and rheumatism, though their efficacy has been much disputed.
“Probably it was discovered by the Spaniards in Florida, for seventy years earlier there is mention of the reputation of its roots in Spain as a cure for syphilis, rheumatism, etc., though its efficacy has sincethen been much disputed.”
Mrs. M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal: “Sassafras”, “Sassafras”: Description. The text of A Modern Herbal as published on botanical.com. The text, read in full
Culpeper calls sassafras hot and dry in the second degree, opening obstructions, strengthening the breast, breaking the stone, and very profitable in the venereal disease when used in diet drinks.
“Sassafras. Is hot and dry in the second degree, it opens obstructions or stoppings, it strengthens the breast exceedingly; if it be weakened through cold, it breaks the stone, stays vomiting, provokes urine, and is very profitable in the venereal, used in diet drinks.”
Nicholas Culpeper, M.D., The Complete Herbal … to which are now first annexed, the English Physician Enlarged, and Key to Physic, Dispensatory, “Woods and their Chips, or Raspings”: Sassafras. A New Edition. London: Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row (no year printed); Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. The text, read in part
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
Sources
- Monardes, N. (1574). Historia medicinal, part II. Book, not indexed
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 3 cited: 1 verified against its record, 1 standard reference work, 1 book, not indexed.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026
- Chicago
“Sassafras.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/sassafras.
- MLA
“Sassafras.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/sassafras. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Sassafras. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/sassafras
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See Also
Drawing on the same sources: Monardes
Nearby in the alphabet
The SATOR square (A five-line Latin word square that can be read in four directions) · Savin (a low juniper) · Sandalwood (The heartwood of Santalum album) · Scammony (The dried root resin of Convolvulus scammonia) · Saltpetre (scraped as a white bloom from cellar walls, stables, and dung heaps) · Scapular (worn over the shoulders, a miniature of the monastic scapular) · Salt
Historical description, not medical advice.