Staghorn sumac, also called vinegar sumac, is a short tree that grows in a roundish shape.
| Name | Rhus typhina |
|---|---|
| Family | Anacardiaceae |
| Type | Suckering shrub or small tree |
| Height | 16 feet (5 m) |
| Exposure | Full sun |
| Soil | Ordinary; genuinely indifferent |
| Foliage | Deciduous, scarlet and orange in autumn |
| Flowering | early summer to late summer |
| Spread | Root suckers travel 20 feet (6 m) and more from the trunk |
| Caution | The sap irritates the skin. Wear gloves for any cut |
It’s found very appealing for its fuzzy red fruit clusters, but sometimes becomes problematic because it spreads very fast.
It doesn’t make any difference whether your staghorn tree is planted in spring or fall.
Propagation through root cuttings in fall, but you can also just wait for it to send shoots up from the running roots and dig those out.
Staghorn sumac can turn out to be rather invasive, both because its seeds sprout easily and because underground roots send up shoots. In pruning, your goal is to keep the tree as a single, balanced tree.
→ Before pruning your staghorn sumac, slip on a pair of gloves, because the sap is a bit sticky (and, for some people, highly irritating).
Staghorn sumac has rather brittle wood that can’t cope very well with windstorms. Never climb into the tree to prune it, and don’t even think of hanging a swingset from it.
Staghorn sumac will bounce back from even the hardest pruning. If you cut it down to a stump, new shoots will reappear in the following spring from the vigorous root system. It’s as strong a grower as bay in this respect.
Hatracking, or cutting back completely just to shorten the tree, is strongly discouraged. Indeed, new branches would come out that are only weakly connected to the tree. On a staghorn tree, these branches would very easily break off if it gets windy. Dangerous if people walk nearby. Not a problem if you contain growth to less than 6-8 feet (2-2.5 meters).
That being said, it’s best to simply shorten the longest branches by cutting them back to a junction. For example, if a branch splits into two smaller branches, cut the longer of the two back to the junction. If the tree still feels too large, go for a second round. Best do this in fall, after leaves have fallen.
This is the reason people look the plant up, and it is worth being blunt about: a staghorn
sumac spreads by root, not only by seed, and cutting the top is what provokes it. Every one of
the situations below is common, and each has a different answer.
| What you see | Why it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Shoots coming up yards from the trunk | Roots run shallow and far, and carry dormant buds along their whole length | Sever the root with a spade where the shoot rises, then pull. Cutting at ground level achieves nothing |
| More shoots after every pruning | Removing top growth releases the root buds the crown was suppressing | Prune less and prune lightly. Hard cutting is what multiplies the thicket |
| A forest where a tree was felled | The stump keeps feeding the root system, which no longer has a crown to supply | Never fell and walk away. Treat or grind the stump the same day |
| Seedlings all over the garden | The red fruit clusters ripen and drop | Cut the clusters off before they colour, unless you want them for the birds |
Several plants are sold as sumac, and they differ far more in how far they run than in how
they look.
| Species or cultivar | Height | Foliage | How far it runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhus typhina | 16 ft (5 m) | Velvety shoots, scarlet in autumn | Strongly. The one that makes thickets |
| R. typhina ‘Dissecta’ | 10 ft (3 m) | Deeply cut, almost fern-like | Less vigorous, still suckers |
| R. typhina ‘Tiger Eyes’ | 6 ft (2 m) | Chartreuse yellow all summer | Markedly less. The choice for a small garden |
| R. glabra | 10 ft (3 m) | Smooth shoots, no velvet | Like typhina |
| R. aromatica | 3 ft (1 m) | Low and spreading, scented when crushed | Spreads by layering, not by long roots |
| R. copallinum | 15 ft (4.5 m) | Glossy, with winged leaf stalks | Moderately |
A very beautiful shrub with a spectacular summer blooming, sumac is also remarkable in fall, when its foliage rolls over to flamboyant hues before falling off.
It is definitely among the most beautiful ornamental shrubs from early autumn to early winter.
This easy to care for shrub will produce the nicest impact as a standalone, because as years go by it tends to grow wide instead of tall.
Staghorn sumac fruits can be used to prepare lemonade, all that has to be done is to prepare a decoction from the fruits. It’s a relative of both cashew and pistachio nut trees.
The tangy, acidic taste gave the tree its other common name: the vinegar tree. Its fruits contain high doses of vitamin C and tannin compounds.
While very common, staghorn sumac isn’t dangerous to most people. Other species that share common ancestors, like poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix, formerly Rhus vernix) and the Chinese lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum, formerly Rhus vernicifera) are very poisonous for most humans and pets. For those two, the entire plant is poisonous, as the sap is what contains the toxic compounds.
However, especially after repeated contact, some people turn out to be vulnerable to staghorn sumac’s sap.
Too much exposure to that white, milky sap called latex might trigger an allergic reaction.
This usually isn’t anything more than dermatosis, rashes or swelling on the hands and forearms, but in some cases it may lead to severe anaphylactic shock, where the blood pressure drops to the point of losing consciousness and swelling of tissues in the throat and mouth area can lead to choking.
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