This time of the year in Alabama, we start to see the Sassafras tree bloom and its young leaves glistening in the morning dew. Sassafras is a common shrub found throughout the Eastern US. Sassafras albidium. A unique identifying feature of the Sassafras is that you can find three different types of leaves on a single tree. A single lobe, double lobe and a triple lobe leaf.
Can you find the three different leaf types in this photo?
Most folks know Sassafras because of the tea made from boiling the roots. It was often used as a spring tonic and historically was also used in root beer recipes. The leaves of Sassafras are dried and ground up to use as a seasoning in cajun cooking, you may know it as gumbo file’, It is a aromatic thickener and seasoning.