Smooth Sumac

Rhus glabra

Smooth Sumac is a native deciduous  shrub with an irregular spreading habit and shiny dark green pinnate foliage that turns attractive shades of bright orange and in fall.  The plants are dioecious, with tiny greenish-yellow flowers blooming in pyramidal panicles in late spring to early summer.  Female flowers are followed by tight clusters of hairy maroon-brown berries that persist into winter.  Best performance with dry to medium well-drained acidic soils. 

Rhus glabra is a host plant for the Red-Banded Hairstreak.

MAINTENANCE NEEDS:  High maintenance plant.  Tolerant of most soils, except poorly drained ones.  No serious pests or diseases, but some susceptibility to leaf spot, rust, scale, aphids and mites.   Can spread aggressively.

LANDSCAPE USES:  Accents or Group Plantings, Borders, Naturalized Areas, Woodland Garden, Rock Garden, Foundation Plantings, and containers. 

COMPANION PLANTS:  Aster,  Blue Mist Spirea,  Coneflower

IMAGES:  Richtid,  Rhus glabra nf,  CC BY-SA 3.0, (2)  Andrey Zharkikh from Salt Lake City, USA,  2015.08.25 16.23.02 IMG 0316 pot317 - Flickr - andrey zharkikh, CC BY 2.0, (3)  Eric Hunt,  Rhus glabra AR, CC BY-SA 4.0, (4)  Homer Edward Price,  Smooth Sumac (2996302655), CC BY 2.0, (5) Photo by Judy Gallagher, S mooth Sumac - Rhus glabra, Vaseux Lake Provincial Park, Oliver, British Columbia, October 7, 2016, (6)  Thayne Tuason,  Rhus glabra at Saddlerock, Chelan County Washington 1,  CC BY-SA 4.0

*As plants have ranges in appearance they may not appear as the images shown.