Staghorn sumac
Description:
A shrub or small tree typically
growing in colonies; older plants are in the middle and smaller, younger
plants radiate out on the sides.
Flowers:
The red hairy fruit are
on terminal ends of the branches in cone-shaped clusters.
The leaves are alternate
and pinnately compound, each with 9-31 serrate leaflets. Twigs and petioles
are densely hairy.
Fruit:
Fruit appears in the autumn
and persist into spring.
Height:
Height
Flowering:
autumn into spring.
Habitat:
Staghorn sumac is often
found on poor, dry soil and in areas where other plants find conditions
too difficult to survive. It readily produces new sprouts at the base
of existing plants. Seedlings can grow in cracks in the pavement. Although
it is often planted as an ornamental, staghorn sumac can rapidly encroach
into gardens, lawns, and walkways.
Comments:
Native to the eastern United States, ranging as far south as Tennessee.
Similar Species: Dwarf sumac, Smooth sumac, and Poison-sumac