Food guide

Sassafras and mint teas: find, pick and prepare

Sassafras root and wild mint make warm, good-smelling teas that can settle a stomach and lift your mood.

Page numbers below are from the US Army Survival Manual (FM 21-76) unless another source is named. Each one opens that page.

Before you rely on thisEat a wild plant only when you are 100% sure what it is. Many deadly plants look like safe ones. This page teaches what the survival manuals say; it does not tell you any plant in front of you is safe.A learning tool, not a replacement for training. In an emergency, call 911.

What the law usually allows

On private land, ask the owner first. Many state nature preserves ban picking anything. Some state parks allow picking fruit, nuts and mushrooms for your own use, but digging roots, cutting plants or peeling bark may not be allowed, so check the rules of the park you are in (city, county and national parks have their own rules too).

Ways to find and pick it

Sassafras

Find sassafras by its three leaf shapes on one tree: a mitten, a three-fingered leaf and a plain oval. Scratch a twig: it smells like root beer. Pick young twigs and leaves, or dig a small piece of root from a young sapling.

p. 387

Wild mint

Mint grows in damp ground by streams. It has a square stem, leaves in pairs, and a strong mint smell when you crush a leaf (how to spot it is general knowledge, not the manual). Pick the top leaves.

p. 136

Other leaf teas

Blackberry, strawberry and young rose leaves also make tea. See Berries and wild fruit.

p. 331

Clean and prepare it, step by step

Sassafras root: scrub off the dirt, peel off the bark of the root, and let the bark dry.
p. 387
Rinse mint leaves and crush them a little to wake up the smell (general knowledge, not the manual).
p. 136
Sassafras twigs and leaves: pick young ones and dry them for soup.
p. 387
Throw out any leaves that are old, wilted, moldy or spotted.
Military Survival and Rescue Guide, page 84
To keep leaves and twigs, hang them in bunches somewhere dry and airy.
p. 387

Cook or eat it, step by step

Sassafras tea: boil the dried root bark in water until the water turns reddish brown (the color is general knowledge, not the manual).
p. 387
Add dried young sassafras twigs and leaves to soup.
p. 387
Mint tea: put a few leaves in a cup, pour hot water over them, cover, and let it steep. The manual uses mint tea to settle the stomach and help you sleep.
p. 135

Stay safe

Be 100% sure of the plant. Sassafras is easy to know by its three leaf shapes and root beer smell; mint by its square stem and mint smell. No smell, no tea. p. 387
Sassafras root contains safrole. The US government banned it in food in 1960 because it caused liver cancer in lab animals. Drink sassafras tea only once in a while, and never when pregnant (general food safety, not the manual). p. 387
The manual treats teas as medicine: start with small amounts and give them time. p. 135
The manual's Universal Edibility Test is only for an emergency when you cannot name a plant at all. It tests one part of one plant at a time and takes more than 24 hours for each part. It is not a shortcut, and it never works for mushrooms. pp. 128 to 131
This app's photo reader never tells you a plant in your photo is safe to eat. Check the plant in person, from every side, with a field guide or someone who knows it. p. 137

See where it lives near you

The app shows what has been seen near your ZIP code, with photos, and can read a photo you take.

Open this guide in the app Find it near you

Photo credits

A sassafras root dug up beside a young tree: Liddlebirb, CC0, sourceWild mint: small flowers circle the stem above pairs of leaves: Matt Lavin, CC BY-SA 2.0, sourcePeeled sassafras root bark ready for boiling: Liddlebirb, CC0, sourceSassafras leaves, some shaped like mittens: David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, sourceA glass of fresh mint tea: Mark Jason Dominus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

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