Smooth Sumac is one of several sumac species. It is a shrub that grows up to 10 feet tall. Smooth Sumac has many crooked trunks leaning in different directions. The leaves of this shrub have lots of small leaflets which together make one "leaf." Leaves are medium-green, and the leaflets each have small teeth. The leaves of Smooth Sumac turn bright red in the Fall. The flowers of this plant grow in clusters three to five inches long. Flowers are yellow and bloom in June and July.

Virginia Tech

Merel R. Black, Wisconsin State Herbarium

Virginia Tech

Once the flowers have died, fruits grow in their place. Smooth Sumac fruits are bright red berries. They grow in a cluster shaped like a pyramid. The following animals eat Smooth Sumac berries: Northern Bobwhite, Wild Turkey, Mourning Dove, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, Common Crow, Purple Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Phoebe, American Robin, European Starling, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Chipmunk, and Eastern Cottontail. Eastern Cottontails also eat bark, and White-tailed Deer eat leaves and stems.

Smooth Sumac grows in open woods, fields, roadsides, and edges. It prefers dry soil. Some plants that often grow with Smooth Sumac include: Eastern White Pine, Virginia Pine, oaks, American Elm, maples, American Beech, Eastern Redcedar, Black Cherry, and Sassafras. This shrub provides good cover for many birds, mammals, and other animals, especially when many plants grow together in a thicket.

Copyright, Mark Brand

Copyright, Mark Brand

Smooth Sumac is a pioneer plant. This means it is one of the first plants to take over a field. Later, taller trees will push out the sumac. This shrub may only live a few years. Smooth Sumac depends on birds and animals to spread its seeds by pooping them out in new places. Then, new shrubs can grow.

Relationships in Nature:

Animals Using as Food Source	Animals Using as Shelter	Associations With Other Plants	OTHER
Northern Bobwhite	Eastern Cottontail	Eastern White Pine	Northern Bobwhite D
Eastern Bluebird	Meadow Vole	Virginia Pine	Eastern Bluebird D
Northern Cardinal	White-footed Mouse	Black Oak	Northern Cardinal D
Gray Catbird	Least Shrew	White Oak	Gray Catbird D
Common Crow	Eastern Gray Squirrel	Red Maple	Common Crow D
Purple Finch	Raccoon	Silver Maple	Purple Finch D
Dark-eyed Junco	Virginia Opossum	American Beech	Dark-eyed Junco D
Northern Mockingbird	Eastern Chipmunk	Eastern Redcedar	Northern Mockingbird D
Eastern Chipmunk	Gray Catbird	American Elm	Eastern Chipmunk D
Eastern Cottontail	Wild Turkey	Black Cherry	Eastern Cottontail D
American Robin	Northern Bobwhite	Sassafras	American Robin D
European Starling	Mourning Dove	Pokeweed	European Starling D
Brown Thrasher	Northern Cardinal	Smooth Crabgrass	Brown Thrasher D
Wild Turkey	American Robin	Common Milkweed	Wild Turkey D
Eastern Phoebe	Chinese Mantid	Red Clover	Eastern Phoebe D
Mourning Dove	Brown-headed Cowbird	Loblolly Pine	Mourning Dove D
White-tailed Deer	American Goldfinch	Japanese Honeysuckle	Japanese Honeysuckle Pa
Luna Moth	Spring Peeper	Climbing Bittersweet
Woodchuck	Luna Moth	Kentucky Bluegrass
European Starling	Spined Micrathena	Bigtooth Aspen

Relationship to Humans:

Smooth Sumac is sometimes considered a weed. It is also a good attractor of wildlife.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

KINGDOM Plant DIVISION Magnoliophyta CLASS Magnoliopsida ORDER Sapindales FAMILY Anacardiaceae GENUS Rhus SPECIES Rhus glabra

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