How to Identify Sassafras Wood (Sassafras albidum)

Sassafras, Sassafras albidum: color, grain, end grain, Janka hardness (630 lbf) and weight, and how to tell it from Black Ash / American Chestnut, quoted from the USDA Wood Handbook and The Wood Database.

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At a glance

Scientific name: Sassafras albidum
Type: Hardwood
Origin: Eastern United States
Color: Heartwood medium to light brown, sometimes with an orange or olive hue, darkening with age.
Grain and texture: Grain is straight, with a coarse, uneven texture.
End grain: Ring porous; earlywood pores three to six rows wide, latewood pores commonly in radial multiples and clusters; vessels large in earlywood, small in latewood, tyloses common; parenchyma vasicentric, winged, and confluent; narrow rays, normal spacing.
Janka hardness: 630 lbf
Specific gravity (12% MC): 0.46
Other clue: Distinct, spicy scent resembling root beer while being worked; oil from the roots/wood has been shown to be toxic and weakly carcinogenic if ingested.

What Sassafras looks like

Heartwood medium to light brown, sometimes with an orange or olive hue, darkening with age. Grain is straight, with a coarse, uneven texture. End grain: Ring porous; earlywood pores three to six rows wide, latewood pores commonly in radial multiples and clusters; vessels large in earlywood, small in latewood, tyloses common; parenchyma vasicentric, winged, and confluent; narrow rays, normal spacing.

Hardness and weight

Janka hardness 630 lbf (side hardness: the force needed to embed a 0.444-inch steel ball to half its diameter). Specific gravity 0.46 at 12% moisture content, so a cubic foot weighs roughly 29 lb. Weight in the hand is one of the quickest checks: compare a piece of known size against a board you already know.

Sassafras vs Black Ash / American Chestnut

Sassafras tends to have wider rays (visible even without a lens) and wider growth rings, up to six pores wide per row, compared to black ash and American chestnut, whose rings are seldom more than two to three pores wide; sassafras's distinct root-beer-like scent is also diagnostic.

Smell, weight and other clues

Distinct, spicy scent resembling root beer while being worked; oil from the roots/wood has been shown to be toxic and weakly carcinogenic if ingested.

Where you will meet it

Utility lumber, fence posts, boatbuilding, and furniture.

Working it

Easy to work with both hand and machine tools; good dimensional stability once dry; glues, stains, and finishes well; root/wood oil shown toxic and weakly carcinogenic if ingested.

How to photograph it for identification

Photograph a freshly cut or sanded face in daylight, not a finished or stained surface, since stain hides color and finish flattens grain. Add a close-up of the end grain: cut a clean end, wet it or sand it to 220, and shoot from straight on; pore pattern and rays are the most reliable marks. Put a ruler in frame. The app suggests the likely species; confirm with the end grain and weight.

FAQ

How hard is Sassafras?

Janka hardness 630 lbf. For comparison, Red Oak is about 1,290 lbf and Eastern White Pine about 380 lbf.

How do I tell Sassafras from Black Ash / American Chestnut?

Is Sassafras a hardwood or a softwood?

Sassafras is a hardwood: it comes from a broadleaf tree. Hardwood and softwood describe the kind of tree, not how hard the wood is; some hardwoods are softer than some softwoods.

What color is Sassafras?

Heartwood medium to light brown, sometimes with an orange or olive hue, darkening with age.

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