American sassafras is a medium sized aromatic tree important to wildlife and the perfume industry.
Sassafras officinale
red sassafras, golden elm, cinnamon wood
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
American sassafras, growing in natural forests in the USA, is considered highly suitable for several aromatic uses including staves for buckets and some furniture.