It is a painful irony that one of the very spectacular hardy shrubs is poisonous to most people. This is poison sumac, one of the most brilliant native plants of autumn.
It possesses a generous amount of the same oil found in poison-ivy and its close relative, poison oak.
Rhus Vernix
The scientific name for poison sumac is Rhus vernix, but one finds others sometimes used—among them R. venenata and Toxicodendron vernix.
Vernix means lacquer, and Linnaeus used this name because he was under the impression that the species’ natural range included both America and Asia and that in Japan, the species formed the basis of lacquer painting.
This is not the case. Lacquer sumac is a related poisonous species of Japan and eastern Asia, Rhus verniciflua.
The Advisability of Planting Poison Sumac
The advisability of planting poison sumacs rarely comes up for serious consideration. However, the species is used in some plantings, and there can be no question of its permanence when furnished with the abundant moisture it luxuriates.
This shrub is much more gentlemanly (if this is the word) than its wretched cousins, poison-ivy and poison-oak, which wear so many guises—appearing as prostate vines, climbing vines, or scrambling or bushy shrubs.
Poison sumacs are always upright shrubs or small trees, reaching 15’ or occasionally 20’ feet high. They have few branches, which have a characteristic stubby appearance that permits identification at a distance.
With even further consideration for students of nature, poison sumacs invariably grow in swampy situations, and one need not be on guard against them unless the going is very wet and marshy.
Leaves are alternate and pinnate, with 7 to 13 leaflets from 1 to 3” inches long.
The absence of teeth on leaflet margins and the fact the leaves are borne alternately on green or gray branchlets without thorns distinguish this species from harmless sumacs, ashes, locusts, and other subjects with which it might otherwise be confused.
Its invariably wet habitat is another limiting factor.
The Beauty of This Shrub
This shrub has small greenish or yellow-green flowers similar to other sumacs but occurring in loosely, sparsely branched clusters.
The flowers are usually imperfect, as in hollies, with pollen and pistillate flowers on separate plants.
The fruits are distinctive—gray or grayish white and about one-third as large as peas.
In fruit, the clusters are usually gracefully drooping and vary in length from 5” to 8” inches. as a rule. These berry-like fruits resemble those of poison ivy rather than other native sumacs.
The clusters are markedly attractive and usually remain on the branches from August through winter.
Autumn Coloring
It is rather surprising to see them now and then in Christmas wreaths and other winter decorations, in which they may pass as a kind of bayberry on the strength of their grayish-waxy covering. One wonders how much trouble and discomfort they cause.
The quality which leads to much discomfort by innocent admirers—is its marvelous autumn coloring. The leaves turn from summer green to a very dark, almost purplish green, and then pass through a breathtaking transition from glowing scarlet to brilliant orange.
It is no wonder people are tempted to collect some of this beauty for their homes. A glance shows that the pinnate leaves are very different from the trifoliate ones of poison-ivy, which usually starts its brilliant coloring at about the same time.
After the damage is done, initial and light infections may yield to home treatment. Still, a doctor’s surveillance is desirable to ensure that the inflammation does not spread and become dangerous.
Poison sumac does not seem to be offered in American catalogs, and it is understandable why it is not an appealing nursery subject.
Gardeners as gullible as the author about native plants with outstanding qualities may wish to collect and grow a plant or two of this species.
It is native to all eastern states and as far west as Minnesota, eastern Texas, and north into parts of Southern Canada.
Difficult To Transplant
Sumacs, as a group, are moderately difficult to transplant. Spring is generally recommended as the best season. This time is doubly advisable in handling poisonous species so that the particularly dangerous leaves will cause no trouble.
Even so, gloves should be used for handling the shrubs (but removed using a shovel or other tool) and buried with the final leveling of humus and light sandy loam around the plant.
Sonic authorities recommend cuffing sumacs nearly to the ground as soon as they are planted, and there is much to favor this seemingly drastic treatment.
It would certainly be inviting difficulties with family and friends to plant poison sumacs where anyone would likely pass near them, as besides a path or at the edge of a lawn.
Their coloring is very effective at a distance—along the remote side of a pond or in a boggy spot without access.
Visitors to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden will recall planting poison sumacs there on a small island in the brook, a little below the willow and poplar groups. Such an arrangement is very satisfactory and attractive.
44659 by Ben Blackburn