In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found east of The Dalles, OR between the elevations of 100'-4000'. The range of Rhus glabra (Smooth Sumac) Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). A modern study confirms Smooth Sumac as a mouth medicine, due to examined and tested samples of the species from the Ozark mountains, which was shown to prevent tooth decay among rural Ozark inhabitants. Smooth sumac is moderately palatable to wintering mule deer [66,78]. It usually has a single gray-brown stem but often occurs in clonal thickets formed by suckers from horizontal roots. The leaves are alternately pinnately compound and can … Dark, narrow leaves with a pointed tip and light underside characterize this perennial plant. The Smooth Sumac and Shining Sumac are smooth both on the twigs and the fruits. Smooth sumac had the greatest foliar percentage in September followed by sericea lespedeza and smooth sumac (P < 0.05). The branches on Smooth Sumac are smooth, while the branches on Staghorn Sumac are furry like the antlers on a stag when "in velvet." Smooth Sumac is a dioecious species (male & female flowers are produced on separate plants). In Ohio, we have both. Smooth sumac on average grows about eight feet tall. I’ll be sure to try this out. Smooth Sumac is a little smaller as well, and its range extends further south. Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra) early in the season. Poison sumac also differs in that it rarely grows in dense, pure stands, and it inhabits swamps. Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra): Named because its first-year stems are smooth, rather than hairy. Winged sumac is a slender-branched shrub to small tree with a rounded top; it forms thickets from root sprouting. The new growth has the purplish color. It is similar to smooth sumac, except the leaves are untoothed. Range: Smooth sumac may be found across much of North America. Summer. Winged sumac—which is also known by a variety of other common names, including dwarf sumac, flameleaf sumac, and shining sumac—is a multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub or small tree that thrives in dry soils in open areas where it often forms large colonies. Comment by Natureisbest. Photo Credit Shutterstock. USDA-NRCS Plants Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Rhus glabra, the smooth sumac, (also known as white sumac, upland sumac, or scarlet sumac) is a species of sumac in the family Anacardiaceae, native to North America, from southern Quebec west to southern British Columbia in Canada, and south to northern Florida and Arizona in the United States and Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Staghorn Sumac is a member of the Anacardiaceae, the Sumac or Cashew family. The old herbals don’t just stop there. Discussion The southeastern U.S. often has hot, dry conditions during July and August (NOAA 2010 ) that cause predominant forage species (tall fescue and bermudagrass) to be semi-dormant (Burner et al. Kingdom: Plantae 2010-08-13 10:40:38 First off, thanks for the info. Learn more about Smooth Sumac. It often forms dense thickets in prairies [ 89 ]. Unlike winged sumac, it lacks flattened leafy “wings” along the central stems of the compound leaves. Both Bryce, who is a taxidermist, and I have observed rubs on the trees as the bark is apparently quite aromatic to bucks. Smooth sumac, Rhus glabra, is the only shrub or tree that is native to all of the 48 contiguous states. Staghorn Sumac has leaves that have a hairy leaf stem and rachis, the stem that the leaflets are attached to. Rhus Glabra L. is one of the most common sumacs. That fuzz is the source of the name staghorn; the stems resemble velvet-covered new antlers. As this is a fairly common plant in the landscape, fruiting is not usually an issue. 1913. In North America, the smooth sumac and the staghorn sumac are sometimes used to make a beverage termed "sumac-ade", "Indian lemonade", or "rhus juice". It is one of the primary native woody nuisances that moves into prairies in Missouri, where its … long (45 cm), warms up to brilliant shades of red and orange in fall. Its strong architectural form and elegant silhouette are revealed in winter, after the leaves are gone. Description: Smooth sumac, or Rhus Glabra L., ranges from the size of a shrub to that of a small tree. Interspersed throughout the bush are cones of petite red berries that add a wonderful splash of color . Its foliage of shiny, deeply dissected, fern-like, deep green leaves, 18 in. This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing them to extract the essence, straining the liquid through a cotton cloth, and sweetening it. A cultivated variety has much-dissected fernlike… Three to Five shrubs are needed for a reliable bounty of fruit (red drupes), found on the female plant. In its name, typhina means “like Typha ,” cattails, referring to the fine fuzz on its leaves and twigs. For areas up north you’ll want to look for smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) — its range is far more widespread and it has the same properties and uses as staghorn. It causes skin reactions much worse than poison ivy and poison oak. Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra) Photo Courtesy Ohio State Weed Lab Archive – Ohio State University. It may be found from British Columbia south through the Pacific Northwest to eastern Nevada to northern Mexico, and east to Georgia, New England and north into southern Quebec. Rhus glabra (Smooth Sumac) Anacardiaceae (Sumac Family) Foothills. Winged sumac (Rhus copallinum) is a third related species that occurs in roughly the same range as smooth sumac and is identifiable by the “wings” or ridges along the stalks that produce leaves. Brown. It is not a common plant but it certainly is easy to spot in the fall with its brilliant red leaves and tightly packed pyramid of red fruits. Smooth sumac, also known as common sumac, Rocky Mountain sumac, red sumac, scarlet sumac, lemonade sumac, western sumac, and white sumac, is a deciduous shrub or a small tree from 0.5 to 6 m in height and 1 to 18 cm in stem diameter. Range & Habitat: The native Winged Sumac is common in southern Illinois, occasional in NE Illinois, and rare or absent elsewhere (see Distribution Map). Smooth Sumac is very similar to the Staghorn Sumac, except it is a smaller plant, usually 10 to 15 feet high, that is normally a large shrub and it does not have hairy twigs or fruit clusters. Second, I live in Alabama, and we have it here. Smooth sumac fruits are palatable to many species of birds and small mammals. Ranges throughout the U.S. except for an area in North Dakota and Montana. Rhus glabra is found in the Four Corners area of Colorado, Arizona, and Utah but not in New Mexico. Smooth Sumac is a deciduous shrub that has short, crooked, trunks with charming, dark green leaves laid out in a symmetrical pattern along the branches. Reply to this comment . Staghorn sumac occupies a smaller range, from Minnesota east to Maine, south to South Carolina and Tennessee. Wild turkey, gray partridge, and mourning dove also feed on the fruits . ” If you do manage to somehow mistake poison sumac for sumac, you’ll be sorry though. Smooth Sumac Rhus glabra L. Figure 98.—Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) Other common names.—Mountain sumac, upland sumac, scarlet sumac, sleek sumac, white sumac, Pennsylvania sumac, shoemake, vinegar tree. Shades of red and orange in fall thicket-forming shrub or small tree with a spreading.... 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