Editing Sassafras (section)

=== Species ===
The genus ''Sassafras'' includes four species, three extant and one extinct. Sassafras plants are endemic to North America and East Asia, with two species in each region that are distinguished by some important characteristics, including the frequency of three-lobed leaves (more frequent in East Asian species) and aspects of their sexual reproduction (North American species being dioecious).{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Taiwanese sassafras, [[Taiwan]], is treated by some botanists in a distinct genus as ''Yushunia randaiensis'' (Hayata) Kamikoti, though this is not supported by recent genetic evidence, which shows ''Sassafras'' to be [[monophyletic]].<ref name=nie /><ref name=kamikoti>Kamikoti, S. (1933). ''Ann. Rep. Taihoku Bot. Gard''. 3: 78</ref>

==== North America ====
[[File:Sassafras hesperia 01.jpg|thumb|right|Fossil ''[[Sassafras hesperia]]'' leaf from Early [[Ypresian]], Klondike Mountain Formation, Washington, USA]]
* ''[[Sassafras albidum]]'' (Nuttall) Nees – '''sassafras''', '''white sassafras''', '''red sassafras''', or '''silky sassafras''', eastern North America, from southernmost [[Ontario]], [[Canada]] through the eastern [[United States]], south to central [[Florida]], and west to southern [[Iowa]] and [[East Texas]], formerly, Wisconsin<ref name=usfs1>{{Silvics |first=Margene M. |last=Griggs |volume=2 |genus=Sassafras |species=albidum}}</ref>
* †''[[Sassafras hesperia]]'' (Berry) – western North American, from the [[Eocene]] [[Klondike Mountain Formation]] of [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[British Columbia]];<ref name="WW1987" /> extinct, known only from fossils.

==== East Asia ====
* ''[[Sassafras tzumu]]'' (Hemsl.) Hemsl. – '''Chinese sassafras''' or '''''tzumu''''', central and southwestern [[China]]
* ''[[Sassafras randaiense]]'' (Hayata) Rehd. – Taiwan