Raffi at 05:45, 18 December 2009

2009-12-18T05:45:50Z

Kpdhage at 06:08, 16 December 2009

2009-12-16T06:08:38Z

Envoy at 13:54, 3 August 2007

2007-08-03T13:54:23Z

New page

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Rhus typhina''
| image = Rhty 002 lhp.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Staghorn sumac
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Sapindales]]
| familia = [[Anacardiaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Rhus]]''
| species = '''''R. typhina'''''
| binomial = ''Rhus typhina''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''''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]], from [[Ontario]] and [[Quebec]] south to northern [[Georgia (U.S. State)|Georgia]] and [[Mississippi]] [1].

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 [2]. The leaf petioles and the stems are densely covered in rust-colored hairs.

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 [2]; 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>Forest Service Handbook Number 450 ''Seeds of Woody Plants in the United States''</ref> The foliage turns a brilliant red in autumn. Sumacs are considered some of the best fall foliage around. 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 [2]. It grows quite aggressively.

== Cultivation and uses ==
Staghorn sumac grows in gardens, lawns, the edges of forests, and wasteland. It can grow under a wide array of conditions, but is most often found in dry and poor soil on which other plants cannot survive [2].

The fruit of sumacs can be collected, soaked and washed in cold water, strained, sweetened and made into a good pink [[lemonade]] [3]. The leaves and berries of staghorn sumac have been mixed with [[tobacco]] and other herbs and smoked by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes [4]. This practice continues to a small degree to this day [4].

The [[cultivar]] 'Laciniata', '''Cutleaf Staghorn Sumac''', is grown in [[garden]]s as an ornamental plant.

==Photographs==
<Gallery>
Image:RhusMALE297007.jpg|Male flower cluster
Image:RhusMALEdot027.jpg|Ripening drupes on June 11, 2007
Image:RhusMALEdotDRY.jpg|Dried "male" flower cluster on June 22, 2007
Image:Sumac1222.jpg|Fall colors
</Gallery>

== References ==
{{commons|Rhus typhina}}
{{wikispecies|Rhus typhina}}
*[1] [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?31720 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Rhus typhina'']
*[2] Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal and Joseph M. Ditomaso, ''Weeds of The Northeast'', (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), Pp. 326-327.
*[3] Lee Allen Peterson, ''Edible Wild Plants'', (New York City: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977), P. 186.
*[4] [http://www.cowasuck.org/lifestyle/pipes.htm Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People: The People of the White Pines: Smoking and Pipes]
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/rhhi2.htm Bioimages: ''Rhus typhina'' (as ''R. hirta'')]
*<references/>

[[Category:Sapindales]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:08, 16 December 2009
Line 1:		Line 1:
		+	{{SPlantbox
		+	\|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=Upload.png
		+	\|image_width=240
		+	}}
		+	{{Inc\|
		+	Rhus typhina, Linn. (R. hirta, Sudw. Schmaltzia hirta, Small).
		+	Staghorn Sumac. Fig. 3398. 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. Em.
		+	571. s.S.3:102,103. Gn. 54, p. 505. G.F. 2:343 (adapted in Fig. 3398).
		+	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.). Fig. 3399. Lfts. pinnately dissected.
		+	M.D.G. 1900:211. G.M. 53:827. R.H. 1907, pp. 10, 11. 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.
		+	}}
		+
	{{Taxobox		{{Taxobox
	\| color = lightgreen		\| color = lightgreen

Rhus typhina - Revision history

Raffi at 05:45, 18 December 2009

Kpdhage at 06:08, 16 December 2009

Envoy at 13:54, 3 August 2007