Sassafras Mountain
South Carolina
May 2013
The mountain laurel is in bloom. Mountain laurel is the official flower of my home state of Pennsylvania, but we won’t get the bloom up north for a few more weeks.
What else grows here in the South, in addition to the laurel? Hey, it’s spring. Plenty grows here. Pink lady slipper, hydrangea, bellwort, blueberry, garlic mustard, spiderwort, galax. Solomon’s Seal and False Solomon’s Seal — these are two different plants and no hiker in the history of the world has ever been recorded who can remember which is which. Tulip poplar, jack-in-the-pulpit, trillium, fairy wand, and of course, sassafras. In fact, Sassafras Mountain is named after the sassafras tree. If you are surprised by this, please stop reading now.
Sassafras has been used for a billion years as fragrance in soaps, perfumes and aromatherapy. It can be made into a tea, it can flavor root beer and it has been used extensively in Creole cooking. Natives used sassafras as a remedy for inflammation and infection. But don’t get carried away. Pick and eat a sassafras plant along your trail and you could get yourself in a heap of trouble.
Safrole is one of the ingredients of sassafras oil. It can also be found in spice plants like cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper. While it acts as a natural pesticide in the plant, if not prepared properly, it can act as a natural personicide in your body. Pluck it and eat it and you may screw up your liver and get cancer. If you are tempted to eat a sassafras anyway, please stop reading now. How’s about instead, you just crush it between your fingers and enjoy its zesty, citrusy scent.
“Golly! I’m enjoying its zesty, citrusy scent.”