Description:

Poisonous yet attractive narrow-crowned shrub or small tree with waxy whitish berries and dramatic fall foliage.

Height:

25'.

Diameter:

6".

Leaves:

pinnately compound; 7-12" long; with reddish axis. 5-13 leaflets 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 long; paired except at end; ovate or elliptical; without teeth; short-stalked. Shiny dark green above, paler and slightly hairy beneath; turning scalet or orange in early autumn.

Bark:

gray or blackish; thin; smooth or slightly fissured.

Twigs:

reddish when young, turning gray with many orange dots; hairless.

Flowers:

1/8" long; with 5 greenish petals; many, in long, open, branching clusters to 8" long; male and female on same or separate plants; in early summer.

Fruit:

1/4" in diameter; rounded shiny and hairless; numerous, in drooping branched clusters; maturing in early autumn and often remaning attached until spring.

Habitat:

Wet soil of swamps, bogs, seepage slopes, and frequently flooded areas; in shady hardwood forests.

Comments:

One of the most dangerous North American plants. The clear, vary tocix sap turns black on exposure and, for many people, causes a rash upon contact. A black varnich can be made from the sap, as in a related Japanese species. The fruit of Poison-sumac is not toxic to birds or animals an is consumed by many kinds of wildlife, such as bobwhites, pheasants, grouse, and rabbits, especially in winter, when other food is scarce.