Staghorn sumac
(Rhus typhina)
Conservation Status: No current Status Rank
Photo Credit: Karen Hine/Creative Commons
Facts: Staghorn sumac is a large deciduous shrub that can grow from 30 feet up to 50 feet tall. It is tolerant of many growing conditions and is often easily spotted in large colonies along sunny roadsides, fencerows and open fields. It has alternate compound leaves 16 to 24 inches long, rounded at the base and pointed at the tip with serrated edges. Its clusters of greenish-yellow flowers bloom in June/July followed by a cluster of red, velvety fruits called drupes in mid-August. Originally thought to be exotic due to its tropical look, it is a fast-growing native species, often admired for its crooked trunks with branches covered in wide, forking, velvety twigs that resemble deer antlers (hence the name “staghorn”). Songbirds often nest in the cover of the sumac stands. Staghorn sumac also has beautiful bright yellow, orange and red to purple fall foliage.
The fruit persists on the tree well into winter, serving as emergency winter food for many bird species, including the ring-necked pheasant, wild turkey, bluebirds, and ruffed grouse. On the refuge, it is purposely grown as shrubland habitat for the New England cottontail, as they like to eat sumac bark.
Fun Facts: Staghorn sumac was historically used as a medicinal tea, as a tobacco, and even as an astringent, depending on the tribe and location. Interestingly, in the 19th century, the U.S. tanning industry used a combination of sumac and hemlock to treat leather and weavers mixed it with oak galls as a mordant to produce dyes of silvery gray.
Sources: https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2579e/, https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_rhhi2.pdf, https://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/the-mantle-sumac/