Fruit, leaves, male flower and female flower of the Sassafras tree, Laurus sassafras, Sassafras albidum. Handcolored stipple engraving from a botanical illustration by Pancrace Bessa, engraved on copper by Gabriel, from Francois Andre Michaux's "North American Sylva," Philadelphia, 1857. French botanist Michaux (1770-1855) explored America and Canada in 1785 cataloging its native trees.