102 



Common Trees 



STAGHORN SUMAC 



Rhus typhina, Linnaeus 



THE STAGHORN SUMAC, also called Velvet Sumac, is the 

 largest of the native Sumacs. Under favorable condi- 

 tions it reaches a height of 3 5 feet and a diameter of 8 inches. 



The leaves are alternate, 16 to 24 inches long, compound, 

 with 11 to 3 1 leaflets. Leaf-stalks are hairy. Leaf-scars are 

 U-shaped and contain 3 

 groups of small green- 

 ish bundle-scars. 



The flowers are small 

 greenish - yellow, appear 

 about May, occur in 

 pyramid-like panicles 5 

 to 1 2 inches long and 4 

 to 6 inches broad. 



The fruit is a small 

 red drupe arranged in 

 conspicuous red heads 5 

 to 8 inches long and 4 

 to 6 inches broad. 



The bark on old 

 trunks is rough, dark- 

 brown ; on younger 

 trunks it is smooth, 

 thin, covered with nu- 

 merous y e 1 1 o w i s fa- 

 brown dots. The twigs 

 are stout, clumsy, cov- 

 ered with a dense coat- 

 ing of velvety hairs, 

 contain a wide yellow- 

 ish-brown pith, when 



CUt Or bruised they yield Leafscar9 . seed ' and ^ogle flowers, enlarged 



a milky sap. The buds are small, round and hairy. 



The wood is soft, brittle, rather satiny to touch, orange- 

 colored streaked with green. 



The Staghorn Sumac is found from New Brunswick to 

 Minnesota, south to Georgia and Alabama. This tree is 

 common throughout New York, but rare on Long Island. 

 It goes up to 1,600 feet in the Adirondacks. Fertile, dry 

 uplands are its favorite home. It is common on abandoned 

 fields and fence rows. It is highly prized on account of its 

 autumnal foliage and the coloration of its fruit. 



STAGHORN SUMAC 

 One-fourth natural size. 



