''Rhus copallinum'' (''Rhus copallina'' is also used but, this is not consistent with the rules of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy), the winged sumac, shining sumac, dwarf sumac or flameleaf sumac, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

family (Anacardiaceae) that is native to eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to tall and an equal spread with a rounded crown. A 5-year-old sapling will stand about .

Description

Shining sumac is often cultivated, where it is well-suited to natural and informal landscapes because it has underground runners which spread to provide dense, shrubby cover for birds and wildlife. This species is valued for ornamental planting because of its lustrous dark green foliage which turns a brilliant orange-red in fall. The fall color display is frequently enjoyed along interstate highways, as the plant readily colonizes these and other disturbed sites. The tiny, greenish-yellow

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, borne in compact, terminal panicles, are followed by showy red clusters of berries which persist into the winter and attract wildlife. The flowers are yellow, flowering in the summer. The fruit attracts birds with no significant litter problem, is persistent on the tree and showy. The bark is thin and easily damaged from mechanical impact; branches droop as the tree grows, and will require pruning for vehicular or pedestrian clearance beneath the canopy; routinely grown with, or trainable to be grown with, multiple trunks. The tree wants to grow with several trunks but can be trained to grow with a single trunk. It has no thorns.

Cultivation and uses

The tree can be planted in a container or above-ground planter. It has been recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway, and for land reclamation. ''Rhus copallinum'' can tolerate exposure to salt spray in maritime forests and coastal grasslands; it can grow in

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

and shallow, rocky soil. The tree grows in full sun or part shade. Soil tolerances include clay, loam, sand, slightly alkaline, acidic, and well-drained soil. Its drought tolerance is high. The somewhat sour berrylike fruits are edible and rich in

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably bet ...

. They are eaten by wildlife and can be made into a lemonade-like drink. Additionally, deer browse the twigs of the species. The leaves make up part of the diets of captive

Coquerel's sifaka Coquerel's sifaka (''Propithecus coquereli'') is a diurnal, medium-sized lemur of the sifaka genus '' Propithecus''. It is native to northwest Madagascar. Coquerel's sifaka was once considered to be a subspecies of Verreaux's sifaka, but was ...

s (lemurs).

References

External links

Bioimages: ''Rhus copallinum''USDA Plants profile for ''Rhus copallinum'' (winged sumac)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7245720 copallina Trees of Cuba Trees of the Eastern United States Trees of Ontario Trees of the Southeastern United States Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus