Smooth Sumac
Rhus glabra L.
Anacardiaceae (Cashew Family)
▲ young shoots near a mature colony
▲▼ colony of mature, flowering plants
▲▼ colony of mature, flowering plants
▲▼ colony of mature, flowering plants
▲ smooth, waxy stems on smooth sumac
▲▼ flowers
▲▼ fruit
▲▼ fall color
Location near campus: along east end of walk along north side of Lake Drummond at Close Park.
Rhus glabra
L.; Smooth Sumac:
(Bayer Code:
RHUGL; US Code RHGL)
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Perennial native shrub or small tree that reproduces by seeds and rhizomes
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Tends to increase in pasture/prairie restorations that include burning—not
controlled by burning
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Has pinnately-compound, smooth, shiny leaves that have great fall color—turn
brilliant orange, red-orange or red
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Leaves are deciduous, alternate, pinnately compound with 11-31 leaflets
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Leaf is 12-18 inches long with red rachis (main central stem of leaf), each
leaflet is 2-5 inches long and about ¼ as wide, dark green above and
white-waxy (glaucous) below, with toothed margins
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Stems are stout, angled, reddish,, with some hair and U-shaped leaf scars;
stems are aromatic when broken
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Bark is grayish, lightly fissured/plated on older stems
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Fruit is attractive in crimson-red terminal clusters of fuzzy drupes
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Grows 10-20 feet tall, with mounded crown, can spread by root
suckers/sprouts to form a large colony
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Prefers full sun and well-drained soils or dry soils; does not tolerate wet
soils
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Faster growth from new suckers; slower growth on existing stems
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Native to Missouri
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Tends to increase in prairie/pasture restorations that include burning—not
well-controlled by burning
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Usually not grazed by cattle, but can provide some cover
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Can distinguish from
staghorn sumac by the smooth or waxy-coated new growth on smooth
sumac, and the velvety-hairy new growth on staghorn sumac
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Can distinguish from
winged/shining sumac by the lack of leafy wings along the rachis
on smooth sumac