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Atherosperma moschatum

Common name:	Black Sassafras	Family:	Atherospermataceae
Author:	Labill.	Botanical references:	11, 154, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The bark contains a potential carcinogen[152]. Another report says that the whole plant might be poisonous[4].
Range:	Australia - New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria.
Habitat:	Temperate rainforests and moist gullies up to the sub-alpine zone[11, 152, 154].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. moschata[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Australian Sassafras [H], New Holland Nutmeg [H],

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 30m by 10m . It is hardy to zone 9. It is in leaf all year. The scented flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Tea.

A pleasant tasting tea is made from the fresh or dried aromatic bark[2, 177, 183]. Some caution is advised in its use, see the notes on toxicity at top of the page.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiasthmatic; Antirheumatic; Aperient; Cardiac; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Laxative; Tonic; VD.

Antiasthmatic, antirheumatic, aperient, cardiac, diaphoretic, diuretic, laxative, tonic. A powerful poison, it is useful in treating rheumatism, syphilis and bronchitis[4, 152, 154].

Other Uses

Essential; Wood.

An essential oil is obtained from the plant, it is used medicinally[1].
Wood - tough, close grained, fairly soft, low in tannin. Used for cabinet making, turnery etc[154, 156].

Cultivation details

Requires a rich well composted lime-free soil in full sun or semi-shade[200]. Succeeds in acid and neutral soils[184].
Plants are not very hardy in Britain, requiring greenhouse treatment in most areas, but they succeed outdoors in a woodland garden in the milder areas of the country[166]. Another report says that plants are fairly hardy when grown in a sheltered position[11]. A tree at Edinburgh Botanical Gardens is 3 metres tall and flowers annually, whilst there are trees 6 metres tall in &ndndndnd[11]. Plants can tolerate short-lived frosts to about -5°c if they are well sited and sheltered from cold drying winds[200].
Plants come into flower when they are quite young. All parts of the plant are aromatic[184, 245]. The flowers diffuse a sweet perfume whilst the nuts have a musk-like fragrance similar to nutmegs[245].
Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if seed is required[184].

Propagation

Seed - we have no details for this species but suggest sowing the seed in early spring in a warm greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[200].

Scent

Plant: Fresh Crushed Dried: All parts of the plant are aromatic. The flowers diffuse a sweet perfume whilst the nuts have a musk-like fragrance similar to nutmegs.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Atherosperma moschata (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[152] Lassak. E. V. and McCarthy. T. Australian Medicinal Plants.
A very good and readable guide to the subject.

[154] Ewart. A. J. Flora of Victoria.
A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.

[156] Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Useful Wild Plants in Australia. William Collins Pty Ltd. Sidney 1981 ISBN 0-00-216441-8
A very readable book.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[184] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Shrubs. Pan Books 1989 ISBN 0-330-30258-2
Excellent photographs and a terse description of 1900 species and cultivars.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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