Fam: Anacardiaceae
Spe.: Rhus typhina L.
Common name: American sumac
English: staghorn sumac’
Etymology: The genus Rhus is native to North America, where it is known as ‘sumac’ (sumac). The specific name typhina reminds us of the vague resemblance of the panicle inflorescence with the unmistakable one of the marsh plant Tifa.
Description: large shrub or small dioecious tree, very rustic that can reach a maximum height of 3 meters, has a wide crown and thin trunk.
the bark is smooth, gray-brown in color, has yellowish lenticels with age.
The leaves are alternate, green in color, composed of 11-29 small lanceolate leaves, pointed with a serrated edge; they have a short petiole, very long and hairy rachis (like the twigs).
The male and female flowers are carried by different individuals. The male flowers consist of small flowers, immersed in abundant hair. Five waxy and yellow-green petals; as many darker sepals and arranged alternately with the petals. The female flower, on the other hand, of a rusty red color, has a very short style surmounted by three stigmas.
In late summer, the fruits appear on the same panicles, small reddish drupes, covered with a light hair. The panicles of fruit remain on the tree for many weeks, standing out very much in winter on trees completely devoid of leaves. The fruit is a small drupe covered with hair.
It grows rapidly by vegetative multiplication of both the female and male plants, producing dense bushy patches.
Habitat: Rhus typhina is a species native to North America, it was introduced to Europe in the 17th century for ornamental purposes.
Properties and uses: All parts of the sumac, with the exception of the roots, can be used both as a natural dye and as a mordant.
Notes and Curiosities: it has two striking characteristics: the infructescence, a panicle structure, red and hairy; and the leaf up to half a meter large and composed of numerous toothed leaflets that in autumn take on all shades from green to yellow to red.
Known by the evocative name of ‘staghorn sumac’ (staghorn sumac), these plants participate in the so-called ‘Indian summer’ in autumn in which the woods from New England to the Midwest are tinged with gold and bright red flames.
Here in the Heller Botanical Garden you can admire various ornamental essences with light foliage and the bright colors of autumn leaves. A good decorative effect is also made by the young branches of the plant that are covered with dense rust-colored hair and the panicle infructescences of the same color that, in winter, remain on the trees.
R.typhina is a species that easily emits suckers and this favors a fast means of propagation. On the other hand, if left to grow spontaneously in nature, it becomes a potentially invasive species in its non-native habitats, such as in Europe.