Sassafras
![](/Images/godic/202502/09/Sassafras73717.jpg")
![Male and female Sassafras albidum flowers. The male flower is on the left; the female is on the right. The male flower has nine stamens (one partially obscured), while the female has a central pistil.](/Images/godic/202502/09/Male_and_Female_Sassafras_Flowers3717.jpg")
![Fossil Sassafras hesperia leaf from Early Ypresian, Klondike Mountain Formation, Washington state, USA.](/Images/godic/202502/09/Sassafras_hesperia_013717.jpg")
![S. albidum is a host plant for the spicebush swallowtail.](/Images/godic/202502/09/AbbotV1Tab02A3717.jpg")
Sassafras is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia. The genus is distinguished by its aromatic properties, which have made the tree useful to humans.