Plant Data Sheet
Species: Rhus glabra Other names: Dwarf Sumac, Mountain Sumac,
Scarlet Sumac, Smooth Sumac, Upland Sumac, White Shoemake, Vinegar-tree, Red
sumac
Native
name: tant į t
Traditional
uses: Used
extensively by Native Americans for food and medicine. Young shoots and roots
are peeled and eaten raw. The fruit is also eaten raw, cooked or made into a
lemonade-like drink. The edible fruit is a large
erect cluster of small bright red berries. The edible young shoots are gathered
in spring, roots and berries in fall. Dried for later herb
use. Believed by some Native American tribes to foretell the weather and
the changing of the seasons, for this reason it was held as a sacred plant.
Range: Native to
Local occurrence: Mostly east
of the cascades. Open woodlands prairies, on dry rocky hillsides and in
canyons.
Habitat preference: Found growing in thickets
and waste ground, open fields and roadsides. It prefers well-drained acid soil and full sun.
Plant strategy type: Weedy colonizer.
May be collected as: root cuttings are best long
taken in December
Seed germination: Continuous
light alternating warm and cool temperatures
Propagation recommendations:
high seedling vigor, one year old seedlings are used for planting large areas.
Sprouting is encouraged by cutting or fire injury.
Soil or medium requirements: Poor well drained soils with partial to full sun. Adapted to Coarse and Medium Textured Soils, ph minimum 5.3 maximum 7.5
Installation form: Bare root,
container, and seeds.
Recommended planting density:
300 to 1200 per acre
Care requirements after
installed (water weekly, water once etc.)
Normal rate of growth or
spread, lifespan: Bloom period late spring, Fruit seed period begins summer
ends fall,
Sources cited:
Plants
National Database
http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/topics.cgi?earl=plant_profile.cgi&symbol=LODI
Alternative Nature Online
Herbal
http://altnature.com/gallery/sumach.htm
Data compiled by: Karen
Suyama, June 2005