sassafras

[Rev]

From the sounds of it sassafras seed treatmnet sound just like what i do to gingko nuts from the asian grocery store

[Pisgah]

When grown in the wild, these plants live for a long time as understory plants. They do not flower/fruit with any great success in the shade, They do produce bountiful fruit when grown in the sun, to the point where western exposed branches produce the heaviest fruiting.

I just found out that a friend of mine had relatives that wildcrafted S albidum for folk medecines and candies. The trees are still on his land, and when I asked him about seed he said I could help myself.

[caludia]

here is that sass seedling in the initial pic, it's growing really well, i am going to put it under lights very soon just in case it ups and drops its little leaves soon

[Torsten]

My plant is starting to produce some brilliant red colours already, so don't wait too long with the lights.

[Pisgah]

Found this in Dirr and Heuser's Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propogation:

Sassafras albidum

SEED: The 1/2" long, oval dark blue drupe ripens in September (NH), quickly abscises or is consumed by birds. The pulp is removed by maceration. A pound of cleaned seeds contains approx 5,800 seeds. Seeds should be stored in dry sealed containers at 35 to 41 deg Fahr. Seeds exhibit strong embryo dormancy and require four months stratification at 41 deg Fahr. Fall planted seeds should be sown as late as possible and spring sown seed should be stratified. The seeds germinate rather late in the spring. Obtaining viable seed may be a problem as the species is dioecious and birds literally ravage the fruits.

CUTTINGS: Root cuttings are a valuable method. Roots are cut as soon as the frost leaves the ground. The 1/2" to 1" thick roots are cut into 2" to 3" lengths. Shoots from root cuttings can also be rooted. Sassafras can also be propagated by layering.

The root cutting method seems promising as a way to get live material overseas from the US...

[caludia]

got another up. Now i'm just boasting!

[Torsten]

is this from the same batch of seed? ie, the seed is not highly perishable?

[Happy Cadaver]

Maybe this one's a girl

[Happy Cadaver]

I thought it had a complicated dormancy (two variables or more) and was not highly perishable. I guess you mean that if you beat them into their dormancy then they germinate easily. I have seen this with several species.

[ 16. July 2005, 09:27: Message edited by: darcy ]

[Torsten]

I actually don't believe the dormancy thing. None of the other close relatives have it, but instead have highly perishable seed. Some will do what the Bunya nut does though - sink a radicle and sit there till spring before producing a shoot. I thought maybe sassy does this too.

hence my question about the freshness of the seed.

[caludia]

same batch big guy

let each of us draw our own conclusion...

[Torsten]

well, the fact that I was wrong is good news

[caludia]

And baby makes three! Meet Mercedes, the newest member of my sassafras plantation. She joins Jesús and Jose inside my special rat-proof cage for valuable little sprouts

[Torsten]

we replanted our 3 year old plant in autumn and weren't sure if it would survive as it lost all its leaves way sooner than it would under normal deciduous conditions.

Being such a warm winter it decided to reshoot early and is definitely alive. It's now in the ground so it can grow faster.

[ 12. September 2005, 10:51: Message edited by: Torsten ]

[caludia]

any plans to try root cuttings of it?

[Torsten]

That was the purpose of planting it out in the ground. In the pot it simply didn't develop roots large enough for this. I hope the disturbance in the soil around the root zone will eventually produce lots of suckers.

[Pisgah]

This one does seem to defy container culture for vigorous growth. The best bet seems to be to take root cuttings at the end of the dormancy period, when the roots are ready to revitalize the entire plant (also a great time to harvest root bark), and let them grow for one season in a container that doesn't get too hot. Then take them out of the container and plant them in the ground to start vigorous root growth.

These suckers will run horizontally some way. Yanking on a stem has shown that the major tap root is sometimes a far distance away drom the trunk.

I like root beer. A lot.

[Torsten]

what size do the cuttings have to be?

[Pisgah]

10cm cuttings seem to work well.

[Torsten]

what about diameter at the thick end?

[Pisgah]

2cm. They don't have to be that big. The main thing seems to be that you have to harvest after a freeze period. The plant's growth cycle is very much governed by the last frost date at the end of a dormancy.

[caludia]

2cm. They don't have to be that big. The main thing seems to be that you have to harvest after a freeze period. The plant's growth cycle is very much governed by the last frost date at the end of a dormancy.

pisgah i wonder if this could be artificially induced for us warmer-climate folk down under?

the problem for me would be getting the freeze period for the entire plant, at least for mine and maybe for T's too... would root cuttings taken during winter, then planted/potted (in winter) and put in the fridge work do you think? i suppose the soil temp in an area with a "real winter" is actually much warmer than the air temp, so i wonder what temps we're talking about?

i.e. would a freeze period on a pre-prepared root cutting taken in winter do the trick to encourgae new growth from it? or are we talking about an entire process that is initiated by the entire plant after the freezing period? Woud the whole plant have to undergo freezing temperatures, or do you think that pre-made root cuttings would respond themselves?

There are some colder areas in australia which would get frequent frosts etc during winter, but i am in sydney and frosts don't occur at all, except for on the outskirts, but even there they are usually very mild, and certainly there is never any sustained period of freezing temps. And torsten is in an even warmer climate, though not sure about frost occurence where he is.

p.s., getting more seedling sass's! I now have 12. Got to be male and female in their somewhere

[Pisgah]

Just as an experiment, I took root cuttings this summer and threw them in the fridge (not freezer) for about two weeks. Took them out and potted them in plastic pots. They threw suckers reasonably well. The plants were too small during the heat of summer, though, and I spent my energies fiddling with other plants, so they dried out. They probably would have done well if I were more attentive.

I have heard of Cyprepedium aucale and pubescens being treated in the manner you describe, putting them in the fridge over an otherwise dormant period. They respond well, never going below 0 C, but they are kept in the fridge for at least two months. Cyprepedium occupies a similar range to Sassafras, so perhaps it will work.

I'm interested in this point, when do sassafras leaves start to change down there? Does it seem to be a consistent temperature trigger? I think once they are triggered, they will stay dormant until there is a consistent rise above the trigger temp.

[telemetric]

MetalGumbo-RajinCajin , spot on . That was the article i had read. The amendment at the bottom is the same , though it seems a little more comprehensive than i remember.

regarding that anonymous comment at thebottom of the safrole faq, the species in question is z. smithii, and it does have safrole in it, but also has chemo types without it which must have been what this guy had found...

Has anyone done the research on the several common native species of "sassafrass" in NSW rainforest(eg Doryphora sassafrass and Cinnamomum oliveri) as to safrole content and feasability of extraction?

Mmmm..."root beer" is so good, but not easy to find here...

And talking of beer, I'm gunna try making ginger beer with dark malt instead of sugar, a sort of ginger stout.

this also relates to the the first plant above, as well as the other australian plants mentioned in the safrole faq, ive been doing research and have got journals for most species, with the results to hopefully be released in an updated australian safrole faq...

a highlight to look out for is a native cinnamomum species with ~40% safrole in the bark ...

[Torsten]

I don't think Sassafras needs a freeze period to induce or terminate dormancy. Even in a mild winter like we had this year the plant still lost its leaves at about the usual time and went totally dormant. It did however start growing a bit earlier because it was so very warm. The lowest we get is 6 deg C, but I think the only real cold days we had this year were about 3 or 4 nights at 8 degC.

Telemetric - is this C.laubatii (syn tamala)? I brought some down because I noticed the strong bark, but they did not like the hot & dry spring we have here.