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Smooth Sumac - Rhus glabra
Also commonly called "scarlet sumac" and "common sumac".
The most common Sumac; a large shrub or sometimes a small tree with open,
flattened crown of a few, stout, spreading branches. Sap is whitish.
Family: Anacardiaceae (Cashew Family). Live plants photographed at DuPage
County, Illinois. |
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Smooth Sumac Leaves
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One of the easiest shrubs to
identify throughout the year, smooth sumac has a
spreading, open form growing up to 15 feet tall.
Tiny green flowers in the spring are
insignificant, but are later replaced by large
cones of crimson berries that remain throughout
the winter. Leaves are alternate, compound and
turn a beautiful scarlet in the fall. Buds are
small, covered with brown hair and borne on fat,
hairless twigs. Bark on older wood is smooth and
grey to brown. This is the only shrub native to
all 48 contiguous United States. |
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Smooth Sumac fruit crowd
in upright clusters; they are covered with
short, sticky red hairs. Mature in late
summer, persist all winter.
Here's
a killer recipe for wine made from sumac
berrries.
Raw young sprouts were
eaten by Native Americans as salad. The sour
fruit can be chewed to quench thirst or
steeped as a drink much like lemonade. The
berries are highly prized by many birds and
small mammals, mainly in winter. Deer browse
the twigs and fruit year-round. Habitat:
Open uplands including edges of forests,
grasslands and clearings, roadsides and
waste places. Especially likes sandy soils.
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