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§1 Plant

Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees

vernacular sassafras — species · Lauraceae

USDA
SAAL5
GBIF
3034002
Rank
species
sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
Platephotograph · Tom PotterfieldCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Lauraceae Juss.
Genus
Sassafras
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,351 counties across 32 states/territories
Legend Native · 1351 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-27 °F minimum
Frost-free days
160 min.
Precipitation
30–80 in/yr
pH range
4.5–7.3
Root depth
18 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
75 ft
Height @ 20 y
24 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Blue
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
5,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, container, sprigs
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
High
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,351 counties across 32 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 64 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 75 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 24 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 52 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 81 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 76 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 119 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 50 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 43 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 68 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 85 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 6 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 19 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 39 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 81 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 81 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 67 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 33 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 69 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 27 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 100 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 53 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 1 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SAAL5 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3034002 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T12:30:10Z