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Rhus
Also called Sumachs, Sumacs
Sumac (Rhus) is a genus of about 35 shrubs and small trees in the cashew family, including ornamental species such as fragrant, smooth and staghorn sumac, and Rhus coriaria, the spice sumac. Most are easy to grow in sun and well-drained soil, but they can spread vigorously by suckers.
Sumac or sumach ( S(H)OO-mak, UK also )—not to be confused with poison sumac—is any of the roughly 35 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus (and related genera) of the cashew and mango tree family, Anacardiaceae. Rhus coriaria is the species that is most commonly used for culinary purposes. Sumac is prized as a spice—especially in Middle Eastern cuisine—and used as a dye and holistic remedy. The plants grow in subtropical and temperate regions, on nearly every continent except Antarctica and South America.
It holds cultural significance as a symbolic item on the Haft-sin table during Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
Species including the fragrant sumac (R. aromatica), the littleleaf sumac (R. microphylla), the smooth sumac (R. glabra), and the staghorn sumac (R. typhina) are grown for ornament, either as the wild types or as cultivars.
Some species formerly recognized in Rhus, such as poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans, syn. Rhus toxicodendron), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum, syn. Rhus diversiloba), and poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix, syn. Rhus vernix), produce the allergen urushiol and can cause severe delayed hypersensitivity reactions. Poison sumac may be identified by its white drupes, which are quite different from the red drupes of true Rhus species.
Mowing of smooth sumac (R. glabra) is not a good control measure, since the wood is springy, resulting in jagged, sharp-pointed stumps when mown. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing. Goats have long been considered an efficient and quick removal method, as they eat the bark, which helps prevent new shoots. Sumac propagates by rhizome. Small shoots will be found growing near a more mature sumac tree via a shallow running root quite some distance from the primary tree. Thus, root pruning is a means of control without eliminating the plants altogether.
Fragrant sumac · Chinese sumac · Winged sumac · Sicilian sumac · Smooth sumac · Lemonade sumac · Sugar sumac · Skunkbush sumac · Staghorn sumac
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sumac by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
