Nemorosa is a Latin adjective deriving from nemus, meaning forest.. May Night is the cultivar name. Its common name is sometimes given as  meadow sage .. Plant Type: May Night salvia plants are herbaceous perennials. Characteristics of May Night Salvia: May Night salvia was the 1997 Perennial Plant of the Year.ay Night is the cultivar name. Its common name is sometimes given as  meadow sage .. Plant Type: May Night salvia plants are herbaceous perennials. Characteristics of May Night Salvia: May Night salvia was the 1997 Perennial Plant of the Year.
Steam distillation of dried root bark produces an essential oil consisting mostly of safrole that once was extensively used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food and for aromatherapy. The yield of this oil from American sassafras is quite low and great effort is needed to produce useful amounts of the root bark.
The bark of the roots, formerly one of the ingredients in root beer, contains volatile oils, 80% of which is safrole. The FDA banned its use as an additive in 1960, as safrole was found to cause liver cancer in rats. The sale of sassafras tea was banned in 1976. The root bark extract and leaves are now treated commercially to produce a safrole-free product, the root bark being used as a flavoring agent and the leaves for filÃ© powder. The safrole free extract has, unfortunately, an inferior flavor.