Types of Sumac

What Makes a Sumac a Sumac?

The sumacs in this guide belong to the genus Rhus in the cashew family, with one close cousin, laurel sumac, that botanists now place in its own genus, Malosma. Most of them share a family look: leaves made of many leaflets along a central stem, small greenish or yellowish flowers in clusters, and fuzzy, tart red berries packed into tight heads.

They also share habits. Nearly all of them want sun, put up with poor and dry soil, and spread by root suckers into colonies over time. That suckering is the single biggest thing to plan around, whichever sumac you choose.

Poison sumac is the exception to the name. It is Toxicodendron vernix, a different genus that grows in wet swamps and bogs and carries drooping clusters of whitish berries. It is not one of the plants on this page. If you want the full side-by-side on that one, see winged sumac vs poison sumac.

The Four Sumacs Most Gardeners Meet

Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)

The big one. Staghorn commonly reaches 15 to 25 feet, with stout branches that fork like antlers and young twigs covered in dense, velvety hair, which is where the name comes from. Leaves are long, with many toothed leaflets, and turn yellow, orange, and scarlet in fall. The fuzzy crimson berry heads hold well into winter. It is native to the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, south along the Appalachians and west into the Great Lakes region, and it spreads by suckers into large colonies. Hardy to roughly zone 3 or 4 through zone 8.

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra)

Staghorn's close look-alike, minus the fur. Smooth sumac twigs are hairless and often carry a whitish or bluish waxy bloom. It usually grows 10 to 15 feet and is often one of the first plants to turn bright red along roadsides in fall. Smooth sumac is widely cited as the only shrub native to all 48 contiguous states, so it is the sumac most likely to be wild near you, from prairie edges to old fields. It suckers freely and forms thickets.

Winged sumac (Rhus copallinum)

Also called shining sumac and flameleaf sumac. Its giveaway is the narrow strip of leaf tissue, the "wing," running along the leaf stem between the leaflets. The leaflets are glossy on top, the plant usually stays a 7 to 15 foot shrub, and the dense berry clusters, upright or drooping, ripen deep red from late summer into fall and hang on through winter. Only female plants bear berries. It flowers later than most sumacs, from about July into September, and its fall color is a glossy scarlet to burgundy that often shows ahead of the surrounding hardwoods. It is native from Texas and Oklahoma east to the Atlantic, and from Florida north to Maine and southern Ontario. Like its cousins, it spreads by root suckers.

Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica)

The low one. Fragrant sumac stays 2 to 6 feet tall and spreads wider than it is tall. Instead of a long row of leaflets, each leaf has just three, and they smell spicy when crushed. Small yellowish flowers open in early spring before the leaves, followed by small clusters of red, hairy berries in summer, and orange-to-red fall color. It is native across much of the country east of the Rockies and into Canada, hardy in zones 3 to 9, and spreads by root suckers into low thickets. Low selections such as 'Gro-Low' stay around 2 to 3 feet and are sold as groundcovers.

Sumac Comparison Chart

Sizes are typical ranges for mature plants. Real plants vary with soil, water, and climate.

Swipe sideways on a phone to see every column.

Western and southwestern sumacs

Western and Southwestern Sumacs

Skunkbush sumac (Rhus trilobata) is the West's answer to fragrant sumac: three leaflets, a low, rounded shrub usually 2 to 8 feet tall, and leaves with a strong smell when crushed that some people find unpleasant and others do not mind. Its sticky red fruits are tart, and the USDA lists "lemonade sumac" as one of its other names. It forms thickets that shelter small birds and holds soil well on dry slopes.

Lemonade sumac (Rhus integrifolia), also called lemonade berry, is an evergreen shrub of coastal bluffs and canyons from Santa Barbara County into Baja California. Its leaves are single, leathery ovals rather than rows of leaflets, and the sticky, tart fruit was soaked in water to make a lemony drink. Near the ocean it often stays low and wide.

Laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) is a large evergreen shrub or small tree of Southern California chaparral, up to about 20 feet. The aromatic leaves often fold like a taco shell, and the fruit is small and whitish. It does not tolerate regular frost, though it resprouts from its woody base after fire or a hard freeze.

Evergreen sumac (Rhus virens) grows on rocky hillsides in Texas, southern New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. It is a multi-trunked shrub of roughly 8 to 12 feet with glossy, evergreen leaflets, white flowers from summer into fall, and red, hairy berries on the female plants.

Sumac Tree vs Sumac Shrub: Which Ones Become Trees?

Every sumac starts out as a shrub, and most stay one. A few will grow into small trees if you give them room and a little help.

• Staghorn sumac is the most tree-like eastern sumac. At 15 to 25 feet with a flat, spreading crown, it is often sold and used as a small tree.
• Winged sumac is usually a 7 to 15 foot shrub, but a single trunk in a good spot can grow into a small tree of 20 to 30 feet, and now and then up to about 35.
• Smooth sumac usually stays a large, multi-stemmed shrub around 10 to 15 feet.
• Laurel sumac, lemonade sumac, and evergreen sumac can all be grown as small, multi-trunked trees in the West and Southwest.
• Fragrant sumac and skunkbush stay shrubs. They are the ones to choose when you want something low.

To grow any of the taller ones as a tree, pick one strong stem, remove the lower branches gradually over a few years, and cut or mow the suckers that come up around it. Left alone, a sumac will always drift back toward a thicket.

Which Sumac Should I Plant?

There is no single best sumac. The right one depends on how much space you have, where you live, and what you want the plant to do. Here is our honest take.

• You have a big space and want drama: staghorn sumac. It is the largest, boldest, and most tree-like, and it does best in the cooler northern half of the country where it is native. Give it room, because the colony will grow.
• You want something native almost anywhere: smooth sumac. With a range covering all 48 contiguous states, it suits prairie plantings and naturalized roadsides from coast to coast.
• You want a low groundcover or have a small yard: fragrant sumac. At 2 to 6 feet, or about 2 to 3 feet for 'Gro-Low', it covers banks, fills beds, and stays below windows.
• You garden in the dry West: skunkbush for the interior, lemonade sumac or laurel sumac for frost-free coastal Southern California, and evergreen sumac for Texas and the Southwest.

Where winged sumac fits best

Winged sumac sits in the middle. It is bigger than fragrant sumac and smaller than staghorn, which makes it a good fit for a medium yard edge, a hedgerow, or a field border. A few things set it apart:

• Glossy leaves. The shiny leaflets give it a cleaner, more polished look in summer than the matte leaves of its cousins.
• Fall color that often shows early. The leaves turn glossy scarlet and burgundy, often ahead of the surrounding hardwoods.
• Late-summer flowers. Blooming from about July into September, it feeds bees and other insects later than most sumacs.
• Poor, dry soil. It tolerates thin, rocky, or sandy ground and suits the heat of the South and central states. It needs good drainage: it does poorly on wet sites and grows very slowly on poorly drained soil.
• Wildlife. The berry clusters feed songbirds and game birds through winter, and the leaves host the red-banded hairstreak butterfly and the luna moth. See wildlife benefits and game habitat for details.

The honest downsides: it needs sun, it suckers, and like any sumac grown from seed it takes patience. Our seed runs about 30 to 40 percent germination after proper treatment, and plants are hardy in zones 4 to 9. If winged sumac sounds right for your ground, our sumac seeds page and planting guide walk you through it, and you can order seed here.

Which Types of Sumac Are Edible?

The tart red berries of staghorn, smooth, winged, and fragrant sumac have all been used for a lemony drink, and so have the sticky fruits of skunkbush and lemonade sumac. The sour taste comes from the coating on the berries. The usual rule is simple: red berries in dense clusters at the branch tips on a sumac of well-drained ground. Only eat a plant you have identified with certainty. For how to harvest and use them, see edible sumac and culinary uses and our sumac lemonade recipe.

Types of Sumac: Common Questions

More questions about winged sumac in particular? See our FAQ.