Staghorn sumac
August 25, 2015
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EmailRhus typhina L.
Life cycle
Colony-forming shrub to small tree.
Leaves
Alternate, pinnately compound with nine to 31 leaflets approaching 24 inches long. Leaflets are lance-shaped to narrowly oblong with a pointed tip, 2 to 5 inches long with coarsely toothed margins. Leaflet veins and leaf petioles are densely hairy. Leaflets are deep green above and dull green below and turn bright red in the fall.
Staghorn sumac leaf.
Stems
Shrub to small tree. Young stems and petioles are covered with soft, fuzzy hairs.
Young, fuzzy stems and petioles of staghorn sumac.
Flowers and fruit
Green to yellow flowers form in long, terminal, pyramid-shaped clusters. Red, fuzzy, berrylike fruit form in upright, persistent, cone-shaped clusters.
Staghorn sumac flower cluster (left), and foliage and fruit (right).
Reproduction
Seeds and rhizomes.
Similar weeds
Dwarf sumac (R. copallina L.) Differs by having smooth leaflet margins, raised red dots on stems and distinctly winged leaf stems.
Smooth sumac (R. glabra L.) Differs by having hairless stems and petioles and more open fruit clusters. May hybridize with staghorn sumac.
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