OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rhus aromatica var. aromatica   FAMILY Anacardiaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhus aromatica var. aromatica   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-004:

Rhus aromatica   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Schmaltzia crenata

 

COMMON NAME:
Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_sccr3_001_lvd

        

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm120325_760

March    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm090404_148

April    Walker County    GA

Pigeon Mountain

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm090404_172

April    Walker County    GA

Pigeon Mountain

Straggly, upright, rounded shrub, 1'-7' tall, not poisonous, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm130407_003

April    Columbia County    GA

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm170401_368

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

Alan S. Weakley    asw_911365276792178

May    Granville County    NC

Foliage has sessile terminal leaflets (vs. Toxicodendron pubescens has a prominent petiolule), per Weakley's Flora (2022).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE Fragrant Sumac and Poison Oak

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm180504_440

May    Meriwether-Talbot Counties    GA

Sprewell Bluff WMA

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm180506_1997

May    Crawford County    GA

Coarsely toothed above mid-leaflet. Lateral leaflets assymmetric & sessile, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_rhus_aromatica_8

May        

Short dense catkin-like clusters open before or during leaf expansion, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm140603_378

June    Pickens County    SC

SC Botanical Garden

Petiolule of terminal leaflet is the same length as the lateral petiolules, per www.carolinanature.com (Cook).

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm140603_381

June    Pickens County    SC

SC Botanical Garden

Leaflets thick, at first pubescent on both surfaces, glabrate in age, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

JK Marlow    jkm160611_027

June    Edgefield County    SC

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_r_aromatica_aroma

June        

Fruits roundish, very hairy, bright red, and quite conspicuous, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).

image of Rhus aromatica var. aromatica, Fragrant Sumac, Squawbush

Stephanie C. Brundage    scb_101022Hayesville09ed

October    Clay County    NC

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rhus aromatica var. aromatica   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhus aromatica var. aromatica   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-004:
Rhus aromatica   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Schmaltzia crenata

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1235

Shrub
Perennial

Habitat: Dry to dry-mesic upland forests and woodlands, glade margins, stream banks, bluffs, and pastures, eastwards primarily in rocky, rather dry, woodlands, usually over mafic rocks (such as gabbro or diabase) or calcareous rocks, less commonly in sandy soils, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Uncommon (rare in Carolina Coastal Plain)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring
Greenish-yellow/White
4-5 sepals
4-5 petals
4-5 stamens
Usually bisexual

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Red
Drupe

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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