View source for Rhus typhina

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Anacardiaceae
|genus=Rhus
|species=typhina
|Min ht metric=cm
|Temp Metric=°F
|jumpin=This is the plant information box - for information on light; water; zones; height; etc. If it is mostly empty you can help grow this page by clicking on the edit tab and filling in the blanks!
|image=Rhty 002 lhp.jpg
|image_width=240
|image_caption=Staghorn sumac
}}
'''''Staghorn Sumac''''' (''Rhus typhina'', synonym: ''R. hirta''), is a [[deciduous]] [[shrub]] to small [[tree]] in the [[Anacardiaceae]] or [[Cashew]] family, native to eastern [[North America]]. It is primarily found in Southeastern Canada, the [[Northeastern United States|Northeastern]] and [[Midwest|Midwestern]] United States, Southern [[Ontario]], and the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. <ref>[http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/atlas/little/rhustyph.pdf United States Geological Survey: "Rhus Typhina Range Map" accessed 2008-03-02]</ref>

It grows to 3-10 m tall, and has alternate, pinnately compound [[leaf|leaves]] 25-55 cm long, each with 9-31 serrate leaflets 6-11 cm long.<ref name=Uva>Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal and Joseph M. Ditomaso, ''Weeds of The Northeast'', (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), P. 326-327.</ref> The leaf petioles and the stems are densely covered in rust-colored hairs.

Staghorn sumac is [[Plant_sexuality#Individual_plant_sexuality|dioecious]], and large clumps can form with either male or female plants.<ref>[http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/rhutyp/all.html  Sullivan, Janet. 1994. ''Rhus typhina''. In: Fire Effects Information System (Online). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.]</ref>  The [[fruit]] of staghorn sumac is one of the most identifiable characteristics, forming dense clusters of small red [[drupes]] at the terminal end of the branches<ref name=Uva/>; the clusters are conic, 10-20 cm long and 4-6 cm broad at the base. The plant flowers from May to July and fruit ripens from June to September. <ref>[http://www.nsl.fs.fed.us/wpsm/Rhus.pdf  USDA Forest Service: Woody Plant Seed Manual: ''Rhus''.]</ref> The foliage turns a brilliant red in autumn. The fruit has been known to last through winter and into spring.

Staghorn sumac spreads using its seeds, and by spreading [[rhizomes]].  This makes it so the tree forms colonies, with the oldest plants in the center, and the younger plants radiating out.<ref name=Uva/>  It grows quite aggressively.  

''Rhus typhina'' is a weed in parts of Australia although often confused with [[Tree of Heaven]].

{{Inc|
Rhus typhina, Linn. (R. hirta, Sudw. Schmaltzia hirta, Small). Staghorn Sumac. Shrub or tree, to 30 ft.: branchlets densely velvety-hairy: lfts. 11-31, oblong-lanceolate, pointed, serrate, glaucescent beneath, 2-5 in. long: fls. greenish, in dense terminal panicles: fr. crimson, hairy. June, July; fr. Aug., Sept. Que. to Ont., south to Ga., Ind., and Iowa. Var. laciniata, Wood. Lfts. and bracts deeply and laciniately toothed and the infl. sometimes partly transformed into contorted bracts. Var. dissecta, Rehd. (var. laciniata, Hort.). Lfts. pinnately dissected. A very handsome form with finely cut foliage. R. typhina filicina, Sprenger, is probably not different.—The staghorn sumac grows in the driest soils and is a very desirable plant on account of its brilliant fall coloring, which in dry localities begins to show in Aug., and with its crimson fr.-clusters persisting through the winter. Trained in tree form it is very picturesque, but is short-lived.
}}