The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Rhus typhina
Also called Stag's Horn Sumach, Velvet Sumac, Virginia Sumac, Vinegar Tree, Red Sumac, Staghorn Sumach
Staghorn sumac is a deciduous shrub or small tree from eastern North America, grown for its velvety antler-like branches and brilliant fall color. It spreads by suckers, so it suits large gardens rather than small ones.
Rhus typhina, the staghorn sumac, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae, native to eastern North America. It is primarily found in southeastern Canada, the northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Appalachian Mountains, but it is widely cultivated as an ornamental throughout the temperate world. It is an invasive species in some parts of the world.
Staghorn sumac is an ornamental plant which provides interest throughout the year; though its vigorous suckering habit makes it unsuitable for smaller gardens. It can grow under a wide array of conditions, but is most often found in dry and poor soil on which other plants cannot survive. Some landscapers remove all but the top branches to create a "crown" effect in order to resemble a small palm tree. Numerous cultivars have been developed for garden use, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
Rhus typhina 'Dissecta' (cutleaf staghorn sumac)
The fruits of sumacs are edible. They can be soaked and washed in cold water, strained, sweetened and made into a lemonade-like drink called sumac-ade. The drink extract can also be used to make jelly. The shoots can be peeled and eaten raw. The fruit was found to have certain natural antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.
Fragrant sumac · Chinese sumac · Winged sumac · Sicilian sumac · Smooth sumac · Lemonade sumac · Sugar sumac · Skunkbush sumac · Sumac
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rhus typhina 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
