Once beloved in root beer and medicine cabinets, sassafras was later banned as dangerous. So...is it poison or a powerful plant ally?

In this episode, we’re diving into the wild and winding story of Sassafras albidum—a tree deeply rooted in Southern culture, traditional herbalism, and kitchen magic. From thickening gumbo to flavoring root beer (before it was pulled from shelves in the 1970s), sassafras has played many roles—and stirred up plenty of controversy.

Herbalist Matthew Hunter joins me today to shine a light on this misunderstood tree. He shares his favorite ways to work with sassafras, including his recipe for homemade sassafras root beer (yes, it’s safe—and yes, it’s delicious!). You can download a beautifully-illustrated recipe card here.

Matthew also brings a refreshingly unique perspective. Unlike many herbalists who’ve loved plants since childhood, he started his herbal journey with zero interest in the plant world. He just wanted to “get it over with”—but somewhere along the way, the plants worked their magic. Now he’s a devoted advocate for his local flora and an inspiring teacher in his own right.

If you’ve ever wondered about sassafras’s past, its potential, or how to use it today, this episode is for you.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How to identify sassafras trees, both by sight and by smell

► The history of sassafras use in the United States (and a surprising reason why it went out of fashion!)

► Nine medicinal and culinary gifts of sassafras

► Why a cup of hot sassafras tea is so great on a hot summer day

► Tips for propagating sassafras trees – and why harvesting them can actually help more trees grow!

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know him, Matthew Hunter is the founder of Legacy Wilderness Academy, a school dedicated to teaching Southerners how to harvest clean food and natural medicine from local wild plants. Matthew has been foraging for over ten years and is the creator of several online foraging courses, including Medicinal Plants of the Southeast and The Southerner’s Guide to Foraging. He’s currently on a mission to film every major edible and medicinal plant in the Southeastern US. Matthew leads foraging walks in his local area in northeast Louisiana where he lives with his wife, daughter and son.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book

I am so excited to share this conversation with Dana Hutchinson! I really identified with her herbal path – like me, as a young person she suffered from a debilitating autoimmune condition, and it was through her search for healing that she found herbalism. As a clinical herbalist herself now, she offers so much hope for others in similar situations.

Dana had so much to share about one of the first herbs that she worked with to help her overcome her illness, jujube dates (Ziziphus jujuba). This delicious, nourishing herb has so many gifts! Here are just a few ways jujube dates can benefit your health:

► As a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants

► Nourishes the blood, promotes healthy circulation, and supports the liver

► As a gentle ally for dealing with emotional trauma and a dysregulated nervous system

To learn more about jujube’s medicinal benefits, be sure to check out the entire episode!

You’ll also hear all about how Dana works with jujube to support clients with the autoimmune condition lichen sclerosus (the same illness that started her on her herbal path), including her fantastic recipe for Lichen Sclerosus Decoction. You’ll find a beautifully-illustrated recipe card for it here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► What makes jujube such a helpful herbal ally for a wide variety of health conditions—including poor circulation, autoimmunity, and nervous system burnout

► Tips for sourcing jujube dates

► How to prepare jujubes to maximize their medicinal benefits

► Why jujube dates are often beneficial to include in immune formulations

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Dana is a registered herbalist and mentor with the American Herbalist Guild and is the owner of Wildflower Clinic, a Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western clinical herbalism health center in Golden, Colorado. Dana and her team pride themselves on TCM diagnosis where they interpret the pulse, nails, skin, and tongues of clients in the autoimmune, infertility, and emotional trauma space, both in-person and virtually.

Dana is also a faculty member at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism and an advanced course educator at the Herbal Academy. The Wildflower Clinic is one of the only herbal clinics in the world that alternatively supports the autoimmune condition lichen sclerosus, with botanical, lifestyle, and supplemental recommendations that have helped hundreds of women reach remission.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at

I’ve been looking forward to this interview with Lorna Trigg for a while now! Lorna’s herbal path was strongly influenced by the practices of the indigenous people who lived near her childhood family farm in South Africa, and she has such a creative and unique perspective that I just had to learn more from her.

Lorna shared about a plant that she has known since childhood, the beautiful passionflower (both the Passiflora edulis she grew up with in South Africa, and the Passiflora incarnata that called to her as an adult here in the United States). She shared her insights on what passionflower is perhaps best well-known for—its benefits for sleeplessness, which I took advantage of the very night after the interview!—as well as many other gifts of this gorgeous plant.

Not only does passionflower make great medicine, it has delicious fruit, too! I can’t wait to try them in Lorna’s recipe for Soothing Passion Flower Custard Cups. You can download your beautifully-illustrated recipe card here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How the growth patterns of passionflower echo its medicinal benefits

► What makes passionflower such a wonderful herbal ally during menstruation

► How to work with passionflower to calm a busy mind and get better sleep

► The fascinating relationship between ants and passionflower

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Lorna’s formative years were steeped in her grandmother Verster’s and her mother Willie’s teachings and guidance as a way of life, looking at the natural world of plant allies as the norm for food and healing.

Lorna grew up in the tropical rainforest terrain of South Africa’s southern tip, and spent summers inland on the savannas of the family farm. She watched and learned from the children of the tribal people how and what plants to use for food or medicine while out in the fields with the sheep and cattle. The tribal Sangomas, which are the shamans and medicine men and women, held a fascination for her. She peeked into their huts and saw bundles of dried herbs, seeds, furs and horns used for divination and healing. And so it began, imprinted from an early age, her curiosity sparked.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book