Staghorn Sumac
Rhus typhina
Anacardiaceae (Cashew Family)
▲▼ young plants
▲ mature plants in Minnesota
▲ colony in Kansas
▲ colony in Minnesota
▲▼ fruit
▲▼ fruit and pubescent stems, leaf rachis'
▲▼fruit
▲ foliage, showing toothed margins, no wings on rachis
▲▼ twigs showing pubescence on stems and leaf rachis
Location on or near campus: not known
Rhus typhina
L.; Staghorn Sumac:
(Bayer Code:
RHUTY; US Code RHTY)
·
Grows 15-20 feet tall with flattish crown, can spread
by roots to form a large colony
·
Leaves are deciduous, alternate, pinnately compound
with 13-17 leaflets; leaf is 12-24 inches long; each leaflet is 1-2 inches
wide, light-green above and glaucous (waxy) below, with serrate margins
·
Stems are stout, fuzzy-pubescent (like a stag horn),
reddish-orange to brown; central pith in stem is large and brown and stems
are aromatic when broken
·
Bark is grayish, lightly fissured or plated on older
stems
·
Fruit is crimson red and fuzzy in terminal clusters –
a lemon-tasting tea can be made from them
·
Prefers full sun and well-drained to dry soils; does
not tolerate wet soils
·
Faster growth on new suckers compared to older stems
·
Native to central plains and northwestern Missouri
·
A cultivar called ‘Laciniata”
called
Cutleaf Staghorn Sumac has deeply lobed (cut) leaflets, often bipinnately
compound, almost fern-like and also has a bright-orange color
·
Similar
smooth sumac has smooth or waxy-coated new
growth, compared to velvety-fuzzy new growth on staghorn sumac
·
Similar
winged/dwarf/shining sumac has leafy wings
between leaflets along main leaf rachis; staghorn sumac leaves do not have
these leafy wings