American sassafras

American sassafras is a medium sized aromatic tree important to wildlife and the perfume industry. 

Latin Name

Sassafras officinale

Other Common Names

red sassafras, golden elm, cinnamon wood

American_sassafras_big

Forest Distribution

Compare species

American sassafras trees grow small in the north and tend to develop pockets around parent trees. They are distributed throughout the eastern, central and southern USA and as far west as eastern Texas in natural hardwood forests on all types of soil.

FOREST GROWTH

Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) data shows U.S. sassafras growing stock is 45 million m3, only 0.3% of total U.S. hardwood growing stock. American sassafras is growing 527,000 m3 per year while the harvest is 480,000 m3 per year. The net volume (after harvest) is increasing 47,000 m3 each year.

Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Delaware Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming Volume of live trees on forest land, 1000 m³ 0 3.5K All data derives from The Forest Inventory and Analysis Database developed in 2001, a component of the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.Data was compiled by AHEC in May 2020 using the most recent state inventory available (2018 for most states).“Forest volume” refers to “Net volume of live trees on forest land" as defined by FIA (see glossary). FIA forest volume data is available for 49 U.S. states (Hawaii and Washington D.C. are omitted) with total commercially significant hardwood forest volume of 14.6 billionWith the 2008 Farm Bill, every US State was tasked to prepare a Forest Action Plan by 2010, reviewed in 2015, to include comprehensiveassessment of forest condition and a strategy for sustainable forestry. Further details are available from theNational Association of State Foresters
Back to whole mainland U.S. 0-20K 20K-40K 40K-60K 60K-80K 80K-100K 100K-120K > 120K Volume of live trees on forest land, 1000 m³ 0 200K
-15K -10K -5K 0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -10K -9K -8K -7K -6K -5K -4K -3K -2K -1K 0 1K 2K 3K 4K 5K 6K 7K 8K 9K 10K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -2000 -1750 -1500 -1250 -1000 -750 -500 -250 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ Removals 0 Growth 0 Net growth 0
0 200K 400K 600K 800K 1M 1.2M FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 40K 80K 120K 160K 200K 240K 280K 320K 360K 400K 440K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 80K 100K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 4K 8K 12K 16K 20K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ Forest volume 0

LCA Tool

104.21
seconds
it takes 155.38 seconds to grow 1m³ of American sassafras
The replacement rate is calculated from total U.S. annual increment of the specified hardwood species derived from the U.S. Forest Service Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and assumes that 2 m³ of logs is harvested to produce 1 m³ of lumber (i.e. 50% conversion efficiency). The rapid rate of replacement is due to the very large volume of hardwood trees in U.S. forest.

Material Availability

Compare species

Sassafras lumber from the USA is rarely available and only in limited volumes mainly from southern producers. Check with suppliers for grades available for export. Veneer may also available from specialist suppliers.

Wood Description

Compare species

The heartwood of sassafras is pale to dark brown but often golden in colour. It is a soft light flexible wood. The grain may be interlocked, can be straight but is often wavy and can produce a highly attractive fiddleback pattern. The wood may have a coarse or fairly fine texture and the grain has an ash-like appearance and resembles chestnut.

Mechanical Properties

Sassafras is medium in hardness and shock resistance, but low in stiffness. It is has good bending qualities and is easy to turn on the lathe.

  • 0.42

    Specific Gravity (12% M.C.)

    497Kg/m3

    Average Weight (12% M.C.)

    8.2%

    Average Volume Shrinkage (Green to 6% M.C.)

    62.055 MPa

    Modulus of Rupture

    7,722 MPa

    Modulus of Elasticity

    32.820 MPa

    Compressive strength (parallel to grain)

    2,802 N

    Hardness

Oiled / Un-Oiled Appearance

Compare species
Oiled
sassafras_oiled
Un-oiled
sassafras_unoiled

Performance

Compare species
  • Sassafras machines and works reasonably well, but tools should be kept sharp. It requires pre-boring for nailing and holds screws well. The wood glues very well and stains and polishes with care to a good finish. It requires care in drying as it has a marked tendency to check and cup. It has moderate shrinkage and little movement in performance.

     
  • The wood is resistant to heartwood decay and is moderately resistant to preservative treatment.

Main Uses

Compare species

American sassafras, growing in natural forests in the USA, is considered highly suitable for several aromatic uses including staves for buckets and some furniture.

Furniture