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- Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac (9)
- Sumac, Yma (4)
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Sumac
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Sumac fruit in fall (Minnesota)
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About 250 species; see text |
Rhus is a genus of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae. They are commonly called sumac or sumach. Some species (including Poison ivy, poison-oak, and poison sumac), often placed in this genus, are here treated in the genus Toxicodendron, which differs in highly allergenic foliage and grayish-white fruit but is not genetically distinct. The name derives from the Greek name for sumac, rhous.
The genus is found in subtropical and warm temperate regions throughout the world, with the highest diversity in southern Africa.
They are shrubs and small trees growing to 1-10 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged; they are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes 5-30 cm long, each flower very small, creamy white, greenish or red, with five petals. The fruit form dense clusters of reddish drupes called sumac bobs.
Sumac propagates both by seeds, which are spread by birds and other animals through their droppings, and by new sprouts from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies.
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Rhus has sometimes held over 250 species. Recent molecular phylogeny research suggests breaking Rhus sensu lata into Actinocheita, Baronia, Cotinus, Malosma, Searsia, Toxicodendron, and Rhus sensu stricta. If this is done, about 35 species would remain in Rhus. However, the data is not yet clear enough to settle the placement of all species and their proper placement into genera.[1][2]
The drupes of the Genus Rhus are harvested, the hairy coating removed and then ground to a deep-red to purple powder[clarify], used in Middle Eastern cuisine as a spice with a sour taste, particularly with salads. In North America, the smooth sumac, Rhus glabra, and the staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina, are sometimes used to make a beverage, termed "sumac-ade" or "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing the active principle off the drupes, then straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Native Americans also used the leaves and berries of the smooth and staghorn sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.
Species including the fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica, the littleleaf sumac, R. microphylla, the skunkbush sumac, R. trilobata, the smooth sumac, and the staghorn sumac are grown for ornament, either as the wild type or as cultivars.
The leaves of certain sumacs yield tannin (mostly pyrogallol), a substance used in vegetable tanning. Leather tanned with sumac is flexible, light in weight, and light in color, even bordering on being white.
Dried sumac wood glows under UV lighting (blacklight)[citation needed].
Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure as the wood is springy resulting in jagged, sharp pointed stumps when mowed. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing. See Nebraska Extension Service publication G97-1319 for suggestions as to control.
- Red za'atar
- ^ Allison J. Miller, David A. Young, and Jun Wen (2001). "Phylogeny and Biogeography of Rhus (Anacardiaceae) Based on ITS Sequence Data". International Journal of Plant Sciences 162: 1401–1407. doi:10.1086/322948.
- ^ Pell, Susan Katherine (2004-02-18). Molecular Systematics of the Cashew Family (Anacardiaceae) (PhD dissertation at Louisiana State University)., pages 103-108
- ^ Integrated Taxonomic Information Service. "Rhus laurina."
- Southern African species
- RO Moffett. A Revision of Southern African Rhus species FSA (Flora of South Africa) vol 19 (3) Fascicle 1.
- Schmidt, E., Lotter, M., & McCleland, W. (2002). Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Jacana. ISBN 1-919777-30-X.
- List of Southern African indigenous trees
- Sumac Shrubs