SARSAPARILLA

Sarsaparilla extract is made from the long, thin, dark-brown and bitter-flavored roots of a Central and South American shrub. It is largely used medicinally as well as in the manufacture of “soft” drinks. In the beverage which bears its name, its natural bitterne is modified by the addition of Oil of Wintergreen or other flavors. SASSAFRAS: the spicy bark of both the trunk and root, especially the latter, of a tree of the laurel family. It is employed medicinally, as “sa afras tea” and in other forms, in dye-manufacture, etc. Sa afras leaves and twigs contain much mucilaginous matter and are used for flavoring and thickening soups (see GUMBO). They formerly served in brewing SALOOP (which see). [s. 560]