Author Topic: How to find local sassafras trees  (Read 9290 times)

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GOD

  • Guest
How to find local sassafras trees
« on: May 11, 2002, 04:54:00 AM »
swim has been hunting down trees that grow in his local area.
he thought it might bee a good idea to start a thread about how bees can go about finding the tree in their areas as well.
Swim first went to a bookstore and found a feild guide to north american trees.
That gave a broad, general description as to where to look.
Next he went on the web and did quite a few searches using sassafras and the name of his homestate (plus millions of variations) and found several localities that are actually named after the tree (usually a pretty good indication that it grows abundantly there)
After that, he started calling up nurseries and was given little bits of information that way.
Conservatories yeilded even further information, but that was only through people who actually had an active interest that worked there.
Swim starts this thread in hopes that other bee's will give assistance and ideas as to how bee's can go about actually locating the tree in nearby areas (provided theyre lucky enough to live close to 'em)


My mom tells me Im good lookin'!!!

pandemonium

  • Guest
mittens and tridents
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2002, 07:25:00 AM »
This ought to help...

sorry mods, that pic was toooooo big...

 

http://ostermiller.org/tree/sassafras.html

   

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/commontr/sassafra.htm



Used to have a range map, can't find it. very common SE USA. Going looking a tad bit farther west this year, and soon too. if you know about squirrel woods, that is where I will look, old growth hardwood forest, they leave that type of growth in belts in much of the farmable US. Same places you flush quail from in the winter. ;)  Lots of federal lands, forts as well as parks, allow firewood harvesting, by permit.

Fight Terror! - support your local Alchemists, Brewers, and Cultivators Guild!

handsfull2

  • Guest
funny thing
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2002, 08:30:00 AM »
while  scouting my hunting lease in the south east last year I noticed the plant was everywhere ,this was first showed to me by a hunting buddy who said he liked the tea or something and I did'nt pay it much attention ..

maybee swim should look into this a little closer ....
by the way it was mostly found growing in the clear cuts,and the sides of logging roads.

  "why say something that will only make you look smarter then you are"

pandemonium

  • Guest
Verrry Interesting
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2002, 08:42:00 AM »
That is WAYY cool handsfull2, cause it propagates heavily by runners is the impression I have. The areas you describe getting an extra dose of sun, likely generates a vigorous network of runners fast, unless I am mistaken that is what one wants, is that network of runner roots and the small shrubby trees, intead of chopping down a patriarch.

There is no relation to sassy quality and age of tree is there?

Fight Terror! - support your local Alchemists, Brewers, and Cultivators Guild!

Amicus

  • Guest
Easy ident
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2002, 07:52:00 PM »
There was a thread by GuySmiley a while back about this. THe best advice there was to go to a nursery an LOOK at a tree. The pictures dont do it justice. The tree looks healthier thatn most and there are ONLY ONLY three leaf shapes. an oval, and then an oval with one notch in it, like a mitten. And an oval with two nothes, symetricaly. All will be seen on one tree. But like i said even though you WILL know it when you see it. You will not be sure abuot the trees that arnt sassafras. False positives and shit, untill you really see the tree. So go to a nursery.

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious"

GOD

  • Guest
youngin's
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2002, 08:01:00 PM »
pande-
from what swim has gleaned from tse, the young ones should have a higher concentration of oil, which is a good thing for a few reasons:
- ya dont have to chop/maim/kill to get the goods, pulling out a yearling (up to about 4 ft tall) will actually help the critters along (a few more will pop up in its place next year)
- the little ones can bee pulled out by hand (supposivly) which will make life much easier as opposed to having to lug equiptment and yank with a truck
- tugging by hand is less invasive, plus the rootbark is less prone to slide off the root and bee left in the ground
- one does minimal damage to the root system by taking the little ones


My mom tells me Im good lookin'!!!

pandemonium

  • Guest
Hmmmm
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2002, 09:53:00 PM »
Perhaps our little neighborhood could use a sassy tea festival, to go with traditions like catfish day, milo festivals, and in the ozarks down south they even have "sucker fests"...some chatting with the nice ladies at the historical society could plant that thought...

My grandad was addicted to a candy, made with sassafrass...horehound also,  ;)

The bark itself is as legal as the free air outdoors, hmmmmm.....I BET that settlers and Indians carried that tree west to their settlements, since it has SUCH a history of use as flavoring and tonic, LOL...

Fight Terror! - support your local Alchemists, Brewers, and Cultivators Guild!

ClearLight

  • Guest
all over
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2002, 11:23:00 PM »

 This tree is all over the s.e. u.s.  You just can't mistake that three lobed leaf for anything else once you see it... looks like a bad dinosaur track...

Infinite Radiant Light - THKRA

GOD

  • Guest
yeah, on the eastern side, it reaches all the way ...
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2002, 11:43:00 PM »
yeah, on the eastern side, it reaches all the way up to Ontario Canada!  Its not as abundant as the southern states, but its there.

My mom tells me Im good lookin'!!!

diogenes

  • Guest
Sassafras
« Reply #9 on: May 12, 2002, 11:25:00 PM »
Sassafras grows wild and abundently around here.The old timers used it to make some kind of tea and root beer.Jimson Weed (Str. Datura)also grows like crazy and just wait for it to rain at the right times of the year and you'll have shrooms out the ass. Mimosa pudica also seems to do very well on it's own so that just puts me to wondering how Mimosa hostilis would do if planted at different places and left to grow wild.
Peace Out! 8)

GOD

  • Guest
bee respectful of your environment!!!
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2002, 01:15:00 AM »
seeing as how the mimosa hostilis from brazil is reported to bee higher in alkaloid content than the mexican variety, one may assume that taking this species and growing it further and further away from its natural habitat may decrease alkaloid content.  Mind you that the differances in alkaloid content is at this point simply net lore as any two plants- even grown side by side will have differences.
A word of caution: swim doesnt want to bee your conscience - but taking plants from one region and releasing them to grow 'wild' in other areas that they are not endigenous to can bee VERY detrimental to the environment. 
  PLEASE do not do this!!!!!
  Im sure that if one were so inclined, they could figure out a way to grow what is needed for their own personal use without having to resort to disrupting their local ecosystem.

My mom tells me Im good lookin'!!!

diogenes

  • Guest
changing ecosystems
« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2002, 04:02:00 PM »
Let's see, we now have fire ants,africanized honey bees,armadillos,coyotes,monkeys seen in a swamp not to far from here and a cuatlmundi none of which are indigenous to this territory and that's just the fauna the none native flora is so abundant that it's rediculus but anyway I understand what you're saying.Too bad more people aren't enviromently conscience.
I almost forgot about the wallabies that were found not too far from here.They're damn sure not indigenous.

GOD

  • Guest
you can tell me to shut up now.
« Reply #12 on: May 13, 2002, 04:51:00 PM »
I know ya said ya hear me, but its important to understand: although there may bee quite a few different introduced 'cultivar' running loose in your area, one never knows where the weak link is.  When dealing with the environment, one is dealing with a complex interconnected system.  Simple causality doesnt apply here.  Introduce the wrong species- and IF it effects the right (read: wrong) specie(s) within that system the wrong way, it can create a huge ripple effect that probably wont bee immediatly apparent, but can cause serious problems further down the road.
 
Like I said, I appologise for preaching, I know how irritating it can bee to have some asshole (especially one you dont know) try and tell you what they think is wrong or right.  The only reason I am doing this is because I believe alot of people number one arent even aware that doing this sort of thing can cause a problem and number two, if they are aware- it usually isnt their top priority to pay attention to it, especially when they see every other asshole doing as they please without a second thought.

like I said, I hope Im not coming off like Im lecturing or holyier than thou- I certainly am not.


My mom tells me Im good lookin'!!!

diogenes

  • Guest
understanding
« Reply #13 on: May 13, 2002, 04:59:00 PM »
3'rd line down. 8'th and 9'th words over. ;)
Peace Out!

kid_trippin

  • Guest
Go to your local nursery
« Reply #14 on: May 13, 2002, 06:55:00 PM »
If you really don't think you can find one, go to your local nursery.  Most have sassafras albidum trees and you can get a first hand look at them before you go foraging (just in case you have any doubts about what they really look like).  Maybe even buy a few and start a sassafras tree farm  :)

Resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

Amicus

  • Guest
Why didnt i think of that?
« Reply #15 on: May 13, 2002, 07:47:00 PM »
Why didnt I think of that?

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious"

goiterjoe

  • Guest
way ahead of you on the farming idea
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2002, 12:55:00 AM »
now timber owners in the Southeast will have a crop to harvest between their sawlogs and their pulpwood.  Sassafras trees love to grow in cutovers.  The first two things to grow back are sassafras and gum trees (both root colonizing.)  If you are uncertain about what you have found, rip open one of the leaves and you will catch a faint odor of sassafras oil.  If you're still uncertain, pull the tree out of the ground and you will be overwhelmed with the smell of the oil.

Beeman

  • Guest
So what are you saying
« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2002, 05:41:00 AM »

Used to have a range map, can't find it. very common SE USA. Going looking a tad bit farther west this year, and soon too. if you know about squirrel woods, that is where I will look, old growth hardwood forest, they leave that type of growth in belts in much of the farmable US. Same places you flush quail from in the winter. Lots of federal lands, forts as well as parks, allow firewood harvesting, by permit.



What exactly can I do with those little fuckers I've been cutting down for nearly the past two years??

well . . shit! !   i didnt know ::)    :P

Im going look at more pictures,, this is crazy!


Jonah

  • Guest
uhm.
« Reply #18 on: October 27, 2002, 04:42:00 PM »
Im not active steam distiller, but i do know that an easy way to find sassafrass trees if you have doubts is to crack the stem and smell the place where it was broken.  It will have this bad-ass sassafrass smell.  Like candy or root beer.  you'll know it when you smell it.  great stuff.  i hope this helps you identify some.

-j.

jimwig

  • Guest
you don't even have to bend over - just crush/rub ...
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2002, 08:17:00 PM »
you don't even have to bend over - just crush/rub a few leaves together in your palms - the smell is unique - not quite sassafras like the roots but unique. sorta lemony...

HA - if you can please resist destroying the entire stand of trees - use a chain or chain hoist and/or your vehicle bumber to quickly extracate the entire tree - roots and all.

i understand there is a very small amount of sassafras oil in the leaves/stems - anyone have the answer?
i mean if you're there and have the tree you might as well make a whole pot.

round and round the fire we danced
into the night and with the dawn
everyone had found the light