Except for small local outbreaks, damage is relatively unimportant. The bark, twigs, and leaves of sassafras are important foods for wildlife in some areas. Deer browse the twigs in the winter and the leaves and succulent growth during spring and summer. Palatability, although quite variable, is considered good throughout the range. In addition to its value to wildlife, sassafras provides wood and bark for a variety of commercial and domestic uses.
Tea is brewed from the bark of roots.
The leaves are used in thickening soups. The oil is used to perfume some soaps. Finally, sassafras is considered a good choice for restoring depleted soils in old fields. No genetic variation has been reported for sassafras Literature Cited Auten, J. T. 1945. Relative influence of sassafras, black locust, and pines upon old field soils.