October 1, 1999

     Sumac shrubs

Smooth sumac and staghorn sumac often grow together in thickets.  Both will grow in sandy soil and rocky hillsides and, by means of their extended roots, take possession of large areas.  Since they are able to control areas to the exclusion of other plants, it's possible to see great masses of brilliant red foliage along area roads and the hills sloping to these roads.  They have reached their autumn peak of beauty.  The leaves are mostly red, but there's bright orange and yellow, too.

Both sumacs are shrubs or small trees that have feather-like compound leaves.  Both have dense clusters of dry, red fruit that cling to branches through winter.  Sumacs that grow in dry soils and have red berries are not poisonous, but sumac plants with greenish-white berries that grow in wet places are poisonous.

Several bird species -- such as ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasant, bobwhite quail, eastern bluebird, American robin and brown thrasher -- rely on the clusters of red fruits for food when other foods are scarce in winter and early spring.  White-tailed deer feed on the twigs and foliage of sumacs, and cottontail rabbits eat the bark and fruit.