FRAGRANT SUMAC 



Rhus aromatica Ait. 



Early spring In liiaidcd. ciitkin-likc heads, tlic l)iids of fragrant 



Sandy woods .sumac stand stillly erect nii tlie dark hruwn twigs all 

 winter long. Then when March conies to the sand hills 

 and to the sandy roadsides and woods where the low tangles of fragrant 

 sumac thrive, the still' Inids suddenly loosen, expand, and become little 

 bouquets of bright, lemon-yellow flowers. They are abundant enougli to 

 cast a yellow glow upon a landscape only lately rescued from Minter. 

 The earliest insects flock to the odorous little llowers. The first mourning 

 cloak butterflies, clicking their dry dark wings through the pallid sun- 

 light in search of something sweet, find it here among the sumac bushes. 



Later, the flowers are rejflaced. by clusters of bright red, shiny seeds 

 heavily studded with long white hairs and pale down; the fruits are food 

 for robins and other birds late in sunnner. 



All sunnner long the leaves, which do not apjx^ir until well after 

 the flowers, are dark glossy green. They are aromatic when crushed, as 

 are the stems, and resemble in shape the ])oison ivy. The sumacs, in fact, 

 are closely kin to jjoison ivy. but there is no hint of that evil influence 

 in the fragrant sumac. Another veiy similar species, whose leaves are dis- 

 agi'ceably scented when cnished, is the ill-scented sumac. 



Fragrant sumac has become much used in plantings around build- 

 ings, where its abundant flowers, long before most other plants bloom, 

 make, it a welcome addition to citv fjardens. 



