Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Sumac

Sumac Rhus typhina.jpg It grows to 3-10 m tall, and has alternate, pinnately compound leaves 25-55 cm long, each with 9-31 serrate leaflets 6-11 cm long. The leaf petioles and the stems are densely covered in rust-colored hairs. The fruit of staghorn sumac is one of the most identifiable characteristics, forming dense clusters of small red drupes at the terminal end of the branches; the clusters are conic, 10-20 cm long and 4-6 cm broad at the base. The fruit appear during autumn, at which point the foliage turns a brilliant red. Sumacs are considered some of the best fall foliage around. The fruit has been known to last through winter and into spring. From Ontario and Quebec south to northern Georgia and Mississippi. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter The fruit drupes can be bruised and then soaked in water to make a refreshing lemonade-like drink. Avoid the Poison Sumac tree which is easily identified by its white flowers. Contact with poison sumac will cause a rash (like poison ivy).