Image: Rhus typhina "Laciniata" or Staghorn Sumac.
This Sumac is always reliable for beautiful Autumn color. This Sumac is a native perennial Northern Illinois bush and described as "tough as nails." It is drought tolerant preferring full to partial sun and dry, loam, clay-loam or rocky soil. Pest resistant and friendly to wildlife. It is hardy to Zone 4.
The Leaflets are finely cut giving it a textured feathery look. It can grow to twenty foot high and spreads laterally by vigorous suckering, forming dense multi-stemmed thickets.
It is an impressive shrub but needs space to spread or it will be a constant battle to contain. Mowing over the new shoots with a lawn mower keeps it in check but give it an inch and it will take a mile. It can also be pruned.
The common name, Staghorn Sumac, refers to the antler-like curve of the stems as well as the reddish brown velvety fuzz covering the younger stems. This is especially fun for children to touch and is similar to the pubescence of the velvet-covered new horns on stags.
Flower clusters appear in June and by midsummer they resemble six inch long lopsided cones. In the fall, leaves blaze intensely in fiery shades of orange, red and gold.
Short-tongued bees, wasps, and flies visit the flowers for nectar or pollen. Various insects and their larvae feed on the Sumacs and caterpillars of many species of moths feed on the foliage. The Red Banded Hairstreak and Spring/Summer Azure Butterflies feed on Sumacs. Game birds and songbirds feed on the fruits in the fall and winter. Rabbit and deer will eat on them during the winter. The ecological value of Sumacs to wildlife is fairly high.
“I am rich today with autumn’s gold,
All that my covetous hands can hold…
Oh, who could find a dearth of bliss
With autumn glory such as this!”
- Gladys Harp, poet
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