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NAME: Fragrant Sumac Bush

SPECIES / FAMILY:  Rhus Aromatica / Anacardiaceae

OTHER COMMON NAME(S):  Lemon Sumac

CONDITIONS: sun-partial shade
 

PARTS:	EDIBLE	TASTE	RAW/COOK	SEASON
All
Shoots
Leaves
Stalk/Stem
Buds
Flowers
Fruits		lemon	RAW/DRY	Summer
Pods
Seeds
Nuts
Roots
Bark

 

PORTION: small

 

COMMENT: Fruit - raw or cooked. The fruit is small with very little flesh, but it is easily harvested and when soaked for 10 - 30 minutes in hot or cold water makes a very refreshing lemonade-like drink (without any fizz of course). The mixture should not be boiled since this will release tannic acids and make the drink astringent. The fruit can also be dried and ground into a powder then mixed with corn meal and used in cakes, porridges etc.

 

CAUTION: Anyone with known allergies to any member of the Cashew Family should avoid consuming sumac.(3) There are some suggestions that the sap of this species can cause a skin rash in susceptible people, but this has not been substantiated.(1)

 

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL:

 

LOOK-A-LIKES:  

 

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES: 

 

OTHER USES: The berries, roots, inner bark, and leaves of smooth and staghorn sumac were used to make dyes of various colors. The leaves of fragrant, staghorn and smooth sumac were mixed with tobacco and smoked by many tribes of the plains region.(4)

 

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

1. https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Rhus+aromatica
2. http://www.eattheweeds.com/sumac-more-than-just-native-lemonade
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhus_aromatica
4. http://www.aihd.ku.edu/foods/smooth_sumac.html
5. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=rhus+aromatica&fulltext=1&profile=default (good photos)
6. https://nadiasyard.com/our-native-plants/sumac-aromatic-rhus-aromatica