Sassafras albidum and root beer

The sassafras albidum is a New World tree. All parts of the tree are pleasantly aromatic and its bark and roots can be steeped as a beverage and for medicinal purposes.

The powered leaves by the Choctaw-Indians are used as spice for soups, sauces, stews etc.

Sassafras albidum grows abundantly everywhere in the East from Canada to Florida.

Sassafras was so prized for a time that it used as a medium of exchange and offered to guests at weddings. 

The root bark was also used in brewing root beer. It is what root beer was originally made of. The flowers were used as tea or brewed in beer.

Sassafras albidum was first discovered by early French settlers in Florida, and the name is of unknown origin, though possibly the French learned it from a local Native American name for the plant.
Sassafras albidum and root beer