[Buxtehude]

This is what it looks like:<br><br><img alt="" src="http://www.gypsymoth.ento.vt.edu/vagm/Treeimages/sassafras_asp_stmp.gif" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
This is how it's used<img alt="sad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/sad.gif">From wikipedia)<br>
Essential oil distilled from the root-bark or the fruit was used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy. It is also used as a pain killer as well as an antiseptic in dentistry.The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects, which makes it a nice yard plant. The root or root bark is also used to make tea. A yellow dye is obtained from the wood. The shoots are used to make root beer (formerly an alcoholic beverage, but now a soft drink), which owes its characteristic odor to the sassafras extract. The leaves are used for thickening sauces and soups, and when dried and ground are known as fil? powder, a spice used in Cajun, Creole, and other Louisiana cooking, such as the dish fil? gumbo. The pith is used in the U.S. to soothe eye inflammation and ease catarrh. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes.<br><br><br>
This is why you should care:<br>
Because it's a really fun word to say.

 

[diablita]

aha! thanks.<br>
(and btw, do you also love saying succotash?)

 

[Buxtehude]

Not really. <img alt="wink.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wink.gif">

 

[altoids]

It grows in the woods around here.<br><br>
It's easy to spot because the leaves are shaped like mittens.

 

[Buxtehude]

How lovely! I once lived in a house surrounded by sweet woodruff, which is an herby plant that's used to flavor may wine.<br><br><br><br><img alt="" src="http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/herbs/images/sweet-woodruff.jpg" style="border:0px solid;"><br><br>
From botanical.com:<br>
In Germany, one of the favourite hockcups is still made by steeping the fresh sprigs in Rhine wine. This forms a specially delightful drink, known as Maibowle, and drunk on the first of May.<br><br>
The dried herb may be kept among linen, like lavender, to preserve it from insects. In the Middle Ages it used to be hung and strewed in churches, and on St. Barnabas Day and on St. Peter's, bunches of box, Woodruff, lavender and roses found a place there. It was also used for stuffing beds.

 

[altoids]

I recall my dad making sassafras tea for us, but he used root bark, not the sprigs.