Winged Sumac

Rhus copallinum

Size: 3g Availability

Shrub
Max size: 30′ tall x spreading
Average size: 4-15′ tall x spreading

Occasionally Moist, Moist to Dry, Very Dry
Limerock, Clay, Loam, Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Tolerant of Salt Spray

AKA: Dwarf Sumac, Flameleaf Sumac, Shining Sumac

This deciduous shrub has a red fall color. In the early summer, it has small but prolific yellow-green flowers. Later in the year, it gets burgundy or black berries on female plants that persist into the fall and winter. It likes to form colonies, and is a specimen for its growth habit; made of short and crooked trunks with picturesque branches. The fruits are eaten by songbirds, jays, and crows; white-tailed deer, opossums, wild turkey, and quail. The flowers attract pollinators including bees and butterflies. Some documented bee species that visit include Colletes inandibularis, Augochlora pura, Augochlorella aurata, Augochloropsis sumptuosa, and Dialictus placidensis (Deyrup et al. 2002). As for butterflies, it is the host plant for the red-banded hairstreak caterpillar and the Luna moth.

Has numerous ethnobotanical uses, from medicinal to culinary. Native Americans use it as a food source and medicinally for many ailments. Medicines made from it were used to treat gonorrhea, diarrhea, dysentery, comiting, and more. Its most widespread use was to eat the berries to half comiting and bed-wetting, and to use a root decoction to stop dysentery. The most well-known culinary use is for a tart lemonade-like beverage made from the berries; the flavor comes from the malic acid found in the fruit’s hairs. The berries can also be used as a spice, to make tea, and to infuse butter. The berries and roots are useful for dying, tanning, and paint making.