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Sassafras tzumu
Chinese sassafras is a deciduous forest tree from southern China and Vietnam, growing up to about 35 m, valued for its durable wood. It is a tree for large gardens or parkland rather than a small ornamental.
Sassafras tzumu (Chinese sassafras, Cha mu) is a species of Sassafras native to southern China, in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan and Zhejiang, and to Vietnam. It grows in either sparse or dense forests habitat types, at elevations of 100–1,900 meters (330–6,230 ft).
The bark of Sassafras tzumu is durable fine-grained and yellow. The wood is used in shipbuilding and furniture making because of its durability. The plant is used for medicinal purposes, to treat rheumatism and trauma. Essential oils may be extracted from bark, roots, or fruit, and contains a 1% concentration of phenylpropene safrole. According to other sources, the bark of Sassafras tzumu contains a particularly large quantity of safrole oil at 97%, making it valuable for those wishing to use the oil for commercial purposes or for the purposes of producing illicit drugs.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sassafras tzumu by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
