[Sca-cooks] OOP Question -Sassafras

[Terry Decker]

The native range of sassafras is roughly that of the Eastern hardwood 
forest, from the Canadian border into northern Florida forming a roughly V 
shape reagion across the midwest and south with the point in eastern 
Oklahoma.  The westernmost extent of the Eastern hardwood forest can be 
found at what used to be Platt National Park in Sulphur, OK.

The Spanish landed 1,500 colonists in the Pensacola area in 1559, who moved 
to Port Royal Sound (later part of the English colony of South Carolina) due 
to hostilities with the native tribes.  This is in the southernmost extent 
of Sassafras albidum and 15 years prior to the initial publication of 
Historia Medical.  I haven't chased the actual publication history of 
sassafras, but I would suspect this colony is the beginning of the European 
use of the plant.  Until somebody checks, take this as speculation.

Bear

> I'd be interested in seeing more details of this. If I'm correct, 
> sassafras is a New World plant, and except for possibly Florida, I don't 
> think it grows where the Spanish and Portuguese were. So where would it 
> have come from to get to Europe to develop a market before the English New 
> World colonies? Bear, do you have more info on this, such as the native 
> range of sassafras?
>
> Stefan