staghorn sumac

(Rhus typhina)

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

N5? - Secure

SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

 
staghorn sumac
Photo by Alfredo Colon
 
Description

Staghorn sumac is a fast-growing, 4 to 15 tall shrub or, rarely, small tree. It rises on a single trunk from long-creeping branched rhizomes. In Minnesota mature plants are usually 4 to 15 tall and 2 to 4 in diameter. Large individuals can reach over 32 in height and 8 in diameter. It often forms dense colonies with the oldest and tallest individuals in the center surrounded by progressively younger and shorter individuals. It is a short-lived tree, usually surviving no more than 50 years.

The trunk is forked and occasionally branched. The crown is open, irregular, and rounded or flat-topped.

The bark on young parts is thin, smooth, and dark brown to yellowish-brown with prominent lenticels. As it ages it becomes slightly scaly.

The upper branchlets are densely covered with with short, brown, hairs. The lower trunk and branches are hairless and woody. In winter the leafless, velvety branches have the appearance of antlers on a buck deer, giving the plant its common name.

The twigs are very stout, tan to slightly reddish, and densely hairy. Older branches have prominent lenticels, while younger branches and twigs do not. When broken the branches exude a yellowish sap.

There is no terminal bud—the branches end in a cluster of fruits or a dead stub. The lateral buds are cone-shaped, 3 16 to ¼ long, and covered with pale brown, velvety hairs. The leaf scar is crescent or horse-shoe shaped and has 3 bundle scars. The leaf scar almost completely surrounds the bud.

The leaves are deciduous, alternate, and pinnately compound. They are 12 to 24 long and are divided into 11 to 31 leaflets. They are on 1¼ to 4 long, densely woolly or felty leaf stalks. The central stalk of the leaf to which the leaflets are attached is slightly reddish and densely hairy and is not winged.

The leaflets are stalkless or on very short stalks. They are arranged in opposite or slightly alternate pairs with 1 terminal leaflet. They are lance-shaped, 2 to 4¾ long, and ¾ to 1¾ wide. They are rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base and taper to a long point at the tip. The upper surface is dark green and nearly hairless. The lower surface is pale green to sometimes nearly white, moderately to densely hairy along the veins, and covered with a whitish, waxy coating (glaucous). The margins have fine, sharp, forward-pointing teeth or are rarely pinnately lobed. In autumn the leaves turn bright orange, red, or purple.

Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The inflorescence is a dense, erect, 2¾ to 10 long, 1½ to 2 wide, branched cluster (panicle) at the end of many of the branchlets. Each panicle is made up of 100 to 700 flowers. Female panicles are more compact than male panicles.

The flowers are tiny and yellowish-green. They appear in early June to mid-July after the leaves are fully developed.

The fruit is fleshy and surrounds a single seed (drupe). It is dark red, to 3 16 long and wide, and covered with bright red, needle-like hairs. They are held in dense, upright clusters. They ripen from August to September and persist for most of the winter.

 

Height

4 to 15

 

Flower Color

Yellowish-green

 

Similar Species

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) branches, twigs, and rachis are hairless. The drupes are hairless but densely covered with short, nipple-like bumps.

Habitat

Dry. Abandoned fields, forest edges, thickets, roadsides. Full sun.

Ecology

Flowering

Early June to mid-July

 

Pests and Diseases

 

Use

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 24, 28, 29, 30.

1/30/2024    
     

Nativity

Native

     

Occurrence

Common

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae (green algae and land plants)

Subkingdom

Viridiplantae (green plants)

Infrakingdom

Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)

Superdivision

Embryophyta (land plants)

Division

Tracheophyta (vascular plants)

Subdivision

Spermatophytina (seed plants) / Angiospermae (flowering plants)

Class

Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)

Subclass

Rosidae

Superorder

Rosanae

Order

Sapindales (soapberries, cashews, mahoganies, and allies)

Family

Anacardiaceae (cashew)

Subfamily

Anacardioideae (cashews, sumacs, and allies)

Genus

Rhus (sumacs)

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

Datisca hirta

Rhus hirta

Rhus typhina var. laciniata

   

Common Names

staghorn sumac

stag's-horn sumach

sumac

Velvet sumac

vinegar tree

Virginia sumac

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Bundle scar

Tiny raised area within a leaf scar, formed from the broken end of a vascular bundle.

 

Drupe

A fleshy fruit with a single hard, stone-like core, like a cherry or peach.

 

Glaucous

Pale green or bluish gray due to a whitish, powdery or waxy film, as on a plum or a grape.

 

Lenticel

A corky, round or stripe-like, usually raised, pore-like opening in bark that allows for gas exchange.

 

Panicle

A pyramidal inflorescence with a main stem and branches. Flowers on the lower, longer branches mature earlier than those on the shorter, upper ones.

 

Pinnate

On a compound leaf, having the leaflets arranged on opposite sides of a common stalk. On a bryophyte, having branches evenly arranged on opposite sides of a stem.

 

Rhizome

A horizontal, usually underground stem. It serves as a reproductive structure, producing roots below and shoots above at the nodes.

 

Winged leaf stalk

A leaf stalk with a leaf-like or membrane-like extension along both sides.

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Luciearl

staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac
     
staghorn sumac    

Alfredo Colon

staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac
     
staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac

Dan W. Andree

staghorn sumac

Autumn Sumac...

Randy

Staghorn sumac as a foundation planting, December 2016, Freeborn County, MN

staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac
     
staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
staghorn sumac    

Habitat

 

 

     
staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac

Plant

 

Plant

     
staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac

Leaf

 

Stem

     
staghorn sumac   staghorn sumac

Infructescence

 

Infructescence

     
staghorn sumac    

Fall

 

 

 

Camera

Slideshows

Staghorn Sumac
Wez Smith

Staghorn Sumac
About

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina).

Rhus typhina
Blake C. Willson

Rhus typhina
About

Staghorn Sumac

Rhus typhina
Angie Holmberg

About

Published on Jul 31, 2014

Description

 

slideshow

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Other Videos

Rhus typhina
wander van laar

About

Published on Feb 27, 2014

 

Staghorn sumac (rhus typhina) identification video
wvoutdoorman

About

Published on Jul 22, 2013

Staghorn sumac (rhus typhina) identification video

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

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Luciearl
April 2025

Location: Fairview Twp.

staghorn sumac

Alfredo Colon
6/21/2024

Location: Albany, NY

staghorn sumac
Alfredo Colon
8/21/2022

Location: Albany, NY

staghorn sumac
Alfredo Colon
8/16/2022

Location: Albany, NY

staghorn sumac
Alfredo Colon
8/3/2022

Location: Albany, NY

staghorn sumac
Dan W. Andree
9/30/2021

Location: Frenchman’s Bluff SNA

Autumn Sumac...

staghorn sumac
Luciearl
7/24/2020

Location: Cass County

staghorn sumac
Randy
December, 2016

Location: Freeborn County, MN

Staghorn sumac as a foundation planting

staghorn sumac
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