Twigs green, branched, sometimes hairy. Crushed leaves, bark, and twigs emit a spicy odor. Mature bark red-brown, furrowed.
Flowers greenish yellow, in long drooping spikes.
Fruits blue and fleshy. Fruits August - October. It was one of the first exports sent to England by Captain John Smith of the Jamestown Colony. Tea can be made by boiling the outer bark of sassafras roots. Sassafras oil, extracted from the root bark, is used in some soaps and was once a candy flavoring.