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Woody > Rhus > Rhus typhina > Rhus typhina

Rhus typhina


Staghorn Sumac




            Mike's Opinion

this is Mike

"

A native that has use in the cultured as well as the natural environment. The form although stark in winter is interesting with branches topped by the fruit. The autumn colour is spectacular in orange to red. The fruit also makes a refreshing tea on winter hikes when boiled and sugar or honey added; high in vitamin C.



Michael Pascoe, NDP., ODH., CLT., MSc. (Plant Conservation)

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Family
Anacardiaceae
Genus
Rhus
Species
typhina
Category
Woody
Type
Tree (deciduous), Shrub (deciduous)
Pronunciation
USDA Hardiness Zone
4 - 8
Canadian Hardiness Zone
3
RHS Hardiness Zone
H7
Height
2.5 m
Spread
3 m
Photographs
Description and Growing Information
Flowering Period
June
General Description
A native shrub suitable for quick screening and naturalizing. Used as a specimen in contained areas.
Landscape
Naturalizing, massing, waste areas, perhaps banks, cuts and fills. It is hard to kill this plant due to its ability to sucker freely from the roots.
Shape
Wide and spreading.
Growth
Fast
ID Characteristic
Bright green foliage, crimson fruit clusters, wide spreading and its branches are covered in dense velvet hair.
Flower/Leaf Bud Description
Hairy, leaf scars are 'C'-shaped.
Leaf Description
Compound pinnate, alternate and contains 13-27 leaflets. Bright green above, glaucous beneath.
Flower Description
Dioecious, females borne in dense, hairy panicles and male in a bigger, looser, wider panicle. Greenish-yellow in colour.
Fruit Description
Densely hairy drupe, closely packed with in a pyramidal panicle. Bright crimson in early autumn, becoming duller and darker red with cold weather and often still colourful even into the spring.
Colour Description
Bright green in summer, yellow, orange and scarlet in autumn. Flowers are greenish-yellow and fruit is scarlet red.
Texture Description
Medium in summer and coarse in the winter.
Propagation
Seed, scarify for 50-80 minutes in sulfuric acid. Root cuttings collected in the autumn and cut into 50 mm lengths, insert vertically into pots or flats barley covering the top. Water and place in a cold frame until growth appears and then pot individually.
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