THE STAGHORN SUMACH OR VELVET SUMACH 



OF the several species of Sumach that add so much beauty to American landscapes 

 the Velvet or Staghorn Sumach is the one which is most likely to take on the 

 size and dignity of a tree. It is always to be known at any season of the year 

 by the dense growth of velvety hairs upon the bark of the younger branches. The long 

 petioles of the compound leaves are similarly clothed. The leaflets are regularly, though 

 not deeply, serrate on the margins. In autumn the leaves assume most brilliant colors, 

 commonly becoming an intense red which is almost scarlet. The dense panicles of flowers 

 appear on the ends of short branches early in summer. The pollen-bearing and the seed- 

 bearing blossoms are separate, the former coming into flower about a week in advance of 

 the latter. The general color in each case is greenish yellow, more or less tinged with 

 reddish. The flowers are very freely visited by a great variety of insects, which serve as 

 pollen-carriers. The fruit matures early in autumn, becoming of a brilliant crimson color, 

 the large panicles of which are familiar to everyone. 



The Staghorn Sumach often reaches a height of thirty or forty feet and is commonly 

 used to great advantage in landscape planting. It serves admirably as a background for 

 low shrubbery, and always has a decided decorative value. In spring and summer the 

 long green leaves give an effect of tropical luxuriance, while in autumn the crimson foliage 

 and fruit are unsurpassed for brilliance of coloring. Even in winter, when the leaves have 

 fallen and most of the fruits have broken off, its velvety twigs with their characteristic 

 mode of branching are attractive and interesting. The wood is strongly yellow in color. 

 Like the other Sumachs this species spreads rapidly from suckers, which are easily trans- 

 planted. During recent years a cut-leaved variety has been introduced, which is exceed- 

 ingly desirable as an ornamental plant. 



The Staghorn Sumach seems most at home in the Atlantic Coast States, although 

 it has a range extending from New Brunswick to Minnesota on the north, and Mississippi 

 to Alabama on the south. It is a hardy species, notably free from attack by insect or 

 fungus enemies. 



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