Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Sapindales > Anacardiaceae > Rhus > Rhus aromatica

Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Rhus aromatica, the fragrant sumac, is a deciduous shrub in the family Anacardiaceae native to Canada and the United States from southeast Ontario to Vermont down into central Florida to west Texas up through Nebraska over to southern Wisconsin back to Ontario. It grows in upland open woods, fields, barrens, and rocky cliffs.
View Wikipedia Record: Rhus aromatica

Infraspecies

Rhus aromatica aromatica
Rhus aromatica serotrina
Rhus aromatica var. arenaria
Rhus aromatica var. aromatica
Rhus aromatica var. pilosissima
Rhus aromatica var. schmidelioides
Rhus aromatica var. serotina

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  High
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Dioecious
Hazards [2]  There are some suggestions that the sap of this species can cause a skin rash in susceptible people, but this has not been substantiated. See also notes in 'Cultivation Details'.
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Bees
Scent [2]  The plant has an offensive smell; The bruised leaves emit a delicious resinous scent;
Structure [2]  Shrub
Usage [2]  The leaves are rich in tannin (up to 25%) and can be collected as they fall in the autumn then used as a brown dye or as a mordant; The bark is also a good source of tannin; An oil is extracted from the seeds; It attains a tallow-like consistency on standing and is used to make candles. These burn brilliantly, though they emit a pungent smoke; The plant has an extensive root system and is sometimes planted to prevent soil erosion; The split stems are used in basket making;
Height [2]  3.936 feet (1.2 m)
Width [2]  4.92 feet (1.5 m)
View Plants For A Future Record : Rhus aromatica

Protected Areas

Predators

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 4HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 5Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 6Spermophilus variegatus, Emily C. Oaks, Paul J. Young, Gordon L. Kirkland, Jr., and David F. Schmidt, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 272, pp. 1-8 (1987)
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0