   #copyright

Sumac

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Plants

                   iSumac
   Winged Sumac leaves and flowers
   Winged Sumac leaves and flowers
         Scientific classification

   Kingdom:  Plantae
   Division: Magnoliophyta
   Class:    Magnoliopsida
   Order:    Sapindales
   Family:   Anacardiaceae
   Genus:    Rhus
             L.

                                   Species

   About 250 species; see text

   Rhus is a genus of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the
   family Anacardiaceae. They are commonly called sumac or sumach. Some
   species (including Poison ivy, poison-oak, and poison sumac), often
   placed in this genus, are here treated in the genus Toxicodendron,
   which differs in highly allergenic foliage and grayish-white fruit but
   is not genetically distinct. The name derives from the Greek name for
   sumac, rhous.
   A young branch of Staghorn Sumac.
   Enlarge
   A young branch of Staghorn Sumac.

   The genus is found in subtropical and warm temperate regions throughout
   the world, with the highest diversity in southern Africa.

   They are shrubs and small trees growing to 1-10 m tall. The leaves are
   spirally arranged; they are usually pinnately compound, though some
   species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense
   panicles or spikes 5-30 cm long, each flower very small, creamy white,
   greenish or red, with five petals. The fruit form dense clusters of
   reddish drupes.

   Sumac propagates both by seeds, which are spread by birds and other
   animals through their droppings, and by new sprouts from rhizomes,
   forming large clonal colonies.

Species

   Africa

     * Rhus angustifolia L.
     * Rhus batophylla Codd
     * Rhus baurii Schonl.
     * Rhus carnosula Schonl
     * Rhus chirindensis Bak.f.
     * Rhus crenata Thunb.
     * Rhus dentata Thunb.
     * Rhus discolorE.Mey. ex Sond
     * Rhus dracomontana Moffett
     * Rhus dura Schonl.
     * Rhus engleri Britt.
     * Rhus erosa Thunb.
     * Rhus fastigiata Eckl. & Zeyh.
     * Rhus glauca Thunb.
     * Rhus gracillima Schönl.
     * Rhus grandidens Harv. ex Engl.
     * Rhus gueinzii Sond.
     * Rhus harveyi Moffett
     * Rhus incisa L.f.
     * Rhus keetii Schönl.
     * Rhus krebsiana Presl & Engl.
     * Rhus laevigata L.
     * Rhus lancea L.f.&#127;
     * Rhus leptodictya Diels
     * Rhus longispina Eckl. & Zeyh.
     * Rhus lucida L.
     * Rhus macowanii Schönl.
     * Rhus magalismontana (R.Fern. & A.Fern.) Moffett
     * Rhus microcarpa Schonl.
     * Rhus marlothii Engl.
     * Rhus montana Diels
     * Rhus natalensis Bernh.
     * Rhus pallens Eckl. & Zeyh.
     * Rhus pendulina Jacq.
     * Rhus pentheri Zahlbr.
     * Rhus pondoensis Schönl.
     * Rhus pygmaea Moffett
     * Rhus pyroides Burch.
     * Rhus quartiniana A. Rich.
     * Rhus rehmanniana Engl.
     * Rhus rigida Mill.
     * Rhus rogersii Moffett
     * Rhus sekhukhuniensis Moffett
     * Rhus tenuinervis Engl.
     * Rhus tomentosa L.
     * Rhus transvaalensis Engl.
     * Rhus tumulicola S.Moore
     * Rhus undulata Jacq.
     * Rhus wilmsii Diels.
     * Rhus zeyheri Sond.

   Asia

     * Rhus chinensis (Chinese Sumac)
     * Rhus hypoleuca
     * Rhus javanica
     * Rhus punjabensis (Punjab Sumac)
     * Rhus verniciflua: see Toxicodendron vernicifluum

   Australia

     * Rhus taitensis

   Mediterranean region

     * Rhus coriaria (Tanner's Sumac)
     * Rhus pentaphylla
     * Rhus tripartita

   Eastern North America

     * Rhus aromatica (Fragrant Sumac)
     * Rhus copallina (Winged Sumac or Shining Sumac)
     * Rhus glabra (Smooth Sumac)
     * Rhus lanceolata (Prairie Sumac)
     * Rhus michauxii (Michaux's Sumac)
     * Rhus typhina (Staghorn Sumac)
     * Rhus toxicodendron: see Toxicodendron radicans
     * Rhus vernix: see Toxicodendron vernix

   Western North America

     * Rhus choriophylla (Mearns Sumac), Arizona, New Mexico
     * Rhus laurina (Laurel Sumac)
     * Rhus integrifolia (Lemonade Sumac)
     * Rhus microphylla (Desert Sumac, Littleleaf sumac)
     * Rhus ovata (Sugar Sumac)
     * Rhus trilobata (Skunkbush Sumac)
     * Rhus virens (Evergreen Sumac)

   Mexico and Central America

     * Rhus muelleri (Müller's Sumac; northeast Mexico)

   Pacific Ocean

     * Rhus sandwicensis A. Gray (Neleau; Hawaii, endemic).

   Rhus lancea fruit
   Enlarge
   Rhus lancea fruit

Cultivation and uses

   The hairy covering of the drupes is harvested and used as a spice (a
   deep red powder with a sour taste) in some Middle Eastern countries,
   particularly with rice. In North America, the smooth sumac, Rhus
   glabra, and the staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina, are sometimes used to
   make a beverage, termed "sumac-ade" or "Indian lemonade" or "rhus
   juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing
   the active principle off the drupes, then straining the liquid through
   a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Native Americans also used the leaves
   and berries of the smooth and staghorn sumacs combined with tobacco in
   traditional smoking mixtures.

   Species including the fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica, the littleleaf
   sumac, R. microphylla, the skunkbush sumac, R. trilobata, the smooth
   sumac, and the staghorn sumac are grown for ornament, either as the
   wild type or as cultivars.

   The leaves of certain sumacs yield tannin (mostly pyrogallol), a
   substance used in vegetable tanning. Leather tanned with sumac is
   flexible, light in weight, and light in colour, even bordering on being
   white.

   Dried sumac wood glows under UV lighting (blacklight) .

   Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure as the wood is springy
   resulting in jagged, sharp pointed stumps when mowed. The plant will
   quickly recover with new growth after mowing. See Nebraska Extension
   Service publication G97-1319 for suggestions as to control.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumac"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
