Weed Information: Rhus typhina (sumac, staghorn)
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Rhus typhina (sumac, staghorn)

Family: Anacardiaceae

Description

A common ornamental shrub with velvet-like surface on the branch tips and clusters of hairy red berries. The hairs on the fruit are covered with a pleasantly sour substance that can be used to make lemonade. It is sometimes confused with poison sumac which has hairless white berries.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Yellow-green
  • Green
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Panicle
Number of Petals
  • 5 petals
Petal Separation
  • Completely free to base
  • United at base only (<25% length)
  • United from 25% - 75% length
Petal Tip
  • Pointed
  • Rounded
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers regular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 1 mm (.04 inch)
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • 1 mm (.04 inch)
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
Number of Sepals
  • 5 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • United at base < 25% length
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
Flower Sex
  • Unisexual (monoecious or dioecious)
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • Styles lacking (male flowers only)
  • 3 styles
Number of Stamens
  • stamens lacking (female flowers only)
  • 5 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels united (or one)
Number of Carpels
  • 0 (male flowers only or plants producing spores)
  • 1 carpel
  • 3 carpels
Ovary Position
  • Superior (hypogynous)
  • Halfway (perigynous)
Fruit Type
  • Berry, green
  • Berry, red
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
  • 5 mm (.20 inch)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 2 mm (.08 inch)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • Alternate
Leaf Type
  • Compound odd pinnate > 8 leaflets
Stipules
  • Lacking
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole < 25% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
  • 2 - 4 dm (8.0 - 16.0 inches)
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Dentate
  • Serrate
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Acute (cuneate)
  • Rounded
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Acuminate (attenuate)
  • Acute
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Glabrous (NO hairs)
  • Puberulent
  • Pubescent
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Woody
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Perennial
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Erect, spherical (bushy)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 1.5 - 2.0 meters (5.0 - 6.6 feet)
  • 2 - 2.5 meters (6.6 - 8.3 feet)
  • 2.5 - 5 meters (8.3 - 16.6 feet)
  • more than 5.0 meters (16.6 33 feet)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Seasonally saturated
  • Mesic
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem uniformly leafy
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Rhizomatous

US State
  • Alabama
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • West Virginia
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • Colorado
  • Iowa
  • Minnesota
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Nebraska
Other
  • District of Columbia
Canadian Province or Territory
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec

  • Ontario Weeds, 1992 Agdex 640, Publication #505 See page: 138
  • Weeds of Canada, 1970 Canada Dept. of Ag., Pub. # 948, See page: 116
  • Weeds of the Midwestern United States & Central Canada, University of Georgia 2010, ISBN#0-8203-3506-1 See page: 41
  • Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 326, 330
  • Wildly Successful Plants, A Handbook of North American Weeds, 1977 (ISBN# 0-02-528850-4) See page: 19, 39, 41
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 x
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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