Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden
October 2, 2005, Issue 180
Staghorn sumac and smooth sumac (not close kin of the poison kin) are truly part of our great American heritage. The Monday Garden Issue 148 entitled “Ailanthus and Sumac”, January 23, 2005, covers sumac’s biological and cultural information. This article is dedicated to the plants’ year-round drop-dead gorgeous beauty. Strangely, while these sumacs are native American plants, the Europeans are said to appreciate them more as stunning shrubs and small trees for the garden.
Picture: detail of smooth sumac leaf, turning red at Scalzi Park in Stamford, CT, September 2005
Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) look pretty much a like except that the staghorn sumac has the noticeably hairy leaf stalks and fruit; the staghorn’s winter twigs can looks so furry that they resemble velvet-covered deer antlers, hence the name. The smooth sumac was named because it doesn’t have the hairs. The pictures here are of the wild smooth sumac that grows untended along the roadside in my neighborhood.
Both sumacs are wonderful, tough small trees which like full sun with good moisture. They are found naturally along the east coast and mid-west in the northern part of the USA and southern Canada (to Zone 4). According to Floridata.com, they will thrive as far south as Zone 8. The sumacs will naturally clump via root sucker. If you want to confine them you can do so with a root barrier or by mowing the unwanted suckers. They are both considered of high value to wildlife.
Picture: smooth sumac against the winter sky, Bedford Street Stamford, CT, Winter 2004- 2005
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Picture: smooth sumac almost in bloom, note the contrast of the intensely violet leaf stalks and the lime green flower buds Bedford Street Stamford, CT, July 2005
Picture: detail of the flower of smooth sumac Scalzi Park, Stamford CT July 2005
Picture: smooth sumac leaf detail, note the toothed leaf margins. Scalzi Park Stamford, CT,
September 2005
Picture: smooth sumac young trunk detail. Scalzi Park Stamford, CT, September 2005
Picture: smooth sumac flower detail. Scalzi Park, Stamford, CT, September 2005
Picture: smooth sumac with flower, Scalzi Park Stamford, CT, September 2005
Photo credits: Sue Sweeney
© Sue Sweeney 2005
Comments (2)
You mentioned Ailanthus (I'm guessing altissima, widely considered a weed tree and a real thorn in the side of many a landscaper). Would you maybe talk a bit about this?
Also, I've just recently run with one of the nastier members of genus Rhus (probably radicans). Could you maybe address nomenclature here? I see poison ivy, oak & sumac listed in different places under both genera: Rhus and Toxicodendron. The USDA is no help on this one. Thanks.
Posted by Chris | October 8, 2005 10:32 PM
Posted on October 8, 2005 22:32
Chris -- If you check the inmygarden.org site there is an article on ailanthus altissima, it's in the index under "eco-gardening - invasive plants and alley weeds"
On the rhus family -- the powers that be disagree as to whether poison ivy and poison oak are one or several species. Poison sumac is agreed to be kin to poison ivy-poison oak. "Toxicodendron" is the new name for poison ivy-oak since the powers split the non-poisonous sumacs (still called "rhus") from the poison ivies-oaks-sumacs.
Hope this helps
Sue
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | October 9, 2005 2:34 PM
Posted on October 9, 2005 14:34