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 glabra   FAMILY Anacardiaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhus glabra   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-008:

Rhus glabra   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

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

Rhus glabra

 

COMMON NAME:
Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac


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

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm191222_2360_r_glabra

    Clay County    AL

Cheaha State Park

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969    mpa_page_215

        

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_rhgl_001_lvd

        

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970    swus_page_255

        

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0304w_25

April    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm110402_256

April    Haywood County    NC

Twigs are more than 1cm thick and glabrous, per Woody Plants of Kentucky and Tennessee (Jones & Wofford, 2013).

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm110402_257

April    Haywood County    NC

Leaf scars nearly encircle the buds, per Woody Plants of Kentucky and Tennessee (Jones & Wofford, 2013).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE leaf scars of Sumac and Tree-of-heaven

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0305za_19

May    Buncombe County    NC

Botanical Gardens at Asheville

In southern Appalachians, leaves sometimes rolled and smoked to treat asthma, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0405x_33

May    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

Leaflets glaucous beneath, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm060528_069

May    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    s040529_d

May    Pickens County    SC

Roadside

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0306e_23

June    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0306h_20

June    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0506g_05

June    Pickens County    SC

Roadside

Stem glabrous, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE stems of Sumac species

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm200608_5797

June    Greenville County    SC

Lake Conestee Nature Park

Flowers similar to Winged Sumac except the panicles are usually larger, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0107d_07a

July    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm160717_352

July    Greenville County    SC

Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve

A shrub or small tree to 8m tall sometimes forming colonies of root sprouts, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_rhus_glabra

August        

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0210m_22

October    Henderson County    NC

Roadside

Terminal clusters of yellowish flowers form dense clumps of dark red fruit, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0310f_18

October    Henderson County    NC

Roadside

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0510e_01

October    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

Leaves with 15-19 sessile, serrate leaflets. Rachis not winged, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE leaves of Sumac and Tree-of-heaven

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm201027_7982

October    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0311c_22

November    Jackson County    NC

Roadside

Almost looks like a peppermint stick...

image of Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac, Common Sumac

JK Marlow    jkm0411h_21

November    Pickens County    SC

Roadside

 

 

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

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhus glabra   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-008:
Rhus glabra   FAMILY Anacardiaceae

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1237

Shrub; Tree
Perennial

Habitat: Disturbed areas, clearings, roadsides, woodlands, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (uncommon in NC Coastal Plain, rare in GA & SC 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
Odd-pinnately compound: 15-19 leaflets
Alternate

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

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Red
Drupe

 

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



 


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