ANACARDIACEAE CASHEW (SUMAC) FAMILY Plant: vines (usually woody), shrubs, or small trees Stem: woody, particularly with age, often with milky or resinous juice (resin ducts in bark) Root: Leaves: simple or most often pinnately compound (or 3 s, trifoliate), mostly alternate; stipules none or very small Flowers: regular (actinomorphic), perfect or most often imperfect (dioecious); petals 0 or 3 but usually 5, small; sepals 3 or usually 5 and often fused at base; 5 or 10 stamens in 2 series alternate with petals or reduced or absent; ovary superior, carpels and styles usually 3 Fruit: berry or berry-like (drupe), usually oily Other: mostly tropical; Sumac and Poison Ivy is very common locally, many are toxic; family also includes pistachio, cashew and mango; Dicotyledons Group Genera: 80+ genera; locally Cotinus (smoke tree), Rhus (sumac) and Toxicodendron (poision- sumac, oak, and ivy's) WARNING family descriptions are only a layman s guide and should not be used as definitive
Flower Morphology in the Anacardiaceae (Cashew family) Examples of common genera European Smoketree Cotinus coggygria Scop. (Introduced) [Common] Poison Ivy Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze Smooth Sumac Rhus glabra L.
ID OF THE 4 SUMACS [Shining] Winged Sumac - Rhus copallinum Fragrant Sumac - Rhus aromatica Ternate (trifoliate or 3-part) compound leaf, note that the middle or terminal leaflet narrows to the rachis and is not stalked as is poison ivy; leaf shape differences above helps to define 2 varieties. Staghorn Sumac - Rhus typhina Pinnate leaves (13 or fewer leaflets usually), mostly entire or with fine teeth, both petiole and rachis winged. Smooth Sumac - Rhus glabra Leaves pinnate (7-(10-25)) leaflets, toothed; fruit, twigs and leaf axis with dense, long hairs. Leaves pinnate (11-21 leaflets), with teeth, mostly sessile; stem with raised dots (resin canals), my be glaucous; twigs mostly glabrous.
ID OF THE POISON 3 Poison Ivy Toxicodendron radicans Poison Oak Toxicodendron pubescens Poison Sumac Toxicodendron vernix Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 484 Trifoliate (3 leaflets) - the terminal (middle) leaflet has a definite stalk, ± coarse teeth (variable); stem woody toward base, often climbing with aerial roots or may be prostrate and shrubby Trifoliate (3 leaflets) - the terminal (middle) leaflet has a definite stalk, 3-6(7) rounded lobes; small or low shrubs, woody toward base, NOT climbing (no aerial roots) Leaves pinnate, 7-13+ leaflets, entire, rachis red and not winged; fruit white, in panicles; leaves scarlet red in fall; most common in swamps and bogs
ANACARDIACEAE CASHEW (SUMAC) FAMILY European Smoketree; Cotinus coggygria Scop. (Introduced) Smoke Tree; Cotinus obovatus Raf. Fragrant Sumac; Rhus aromatica Aiton [Shining] Winged Sumac; Rhus copallinum L. Smooth Sumac; Rhus glabra L. Staghorn Sumac; Rhus typhina L. [Eastern] Poison Ivy; Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze Poison Sumac; Toxicodendron vernix (L.) Kuntze
European Smoketree Cotinus coggygria Scop. (Introduced) Lenawee County, Michigan Notes: shrub to small tree; flowers dioecious, small, white to yellowish, dropping early leaving long stalks with purple hairs (very showy); leaves simple, alternate, elliptical to oval; twigs reddish when young but USDA brownish later; fruits asymmetrical and flattened; spring (determined to be C. coggygria due to more northern location) [V Max Brown, 2008]
USDA Smoke Tree Cotinus obovatus Raf. Close Memorial Park, Springfield, Greene County, Missouri (planted tree) Notes: shrub to small tree; flowers dioecious, small, greenish yellow in clusters, dropping early leaving long stalks with purple hairs (very showy); leaves simple, alternate, mostly oval; twigs reddish when young but gray later; fruits asymmetrical and flattened; spring [V Max Brown, 2012]
Fragrant Sumac Rhus aromatica Aiton Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers yellowish green in clusters on catkin-like structure; leaves alternate, trifoliate, USDA terminal leaflet mostly sessile, fragrant when crushed, shape and pubescence variable (form varieties); stem with lenticels or pores; twigs thin, often bent; fruit bright red, with long hairs, in clusters; spring [V Max Brown, 2008]
USDA [Shining] Winged Sumac Rhus copallinum L. var. latifolia Engl. Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers greenish yellow; pinnate leaves (13 or fewer leaflets usually), mostly entire or with fine teeth, both petiole and rachis winged, upper surface lustrous, 2-3+ cm wide; bark with raised bumps and streaks (resin canals); twigs and buds with velvety hair; fruit red in upright spikes, with dense short hairs; summer [V Max Brown, 2006]
USDA Smooth Sumac Rhus glabra L. Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers yellowish green; leaves pinnate (11-21 leaflets), with teeth, mostly sessile; stem with raised dots (resin canals), my be glaucous; twigs mostly glabrous; fruit red, in upright panicle or spike, short hairy; widespread shrub; spring [V Max Brown, 2005]
USDA Staghorn Sumac Rhus typhina L. Maumee Bay State Park, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers yellowish green; leaves pinnate (7-(10-25)) leaflets, toothed; fruit, twigs and leaf axis with dense, long hairs; trunk lenticels horizontal; leaf scars very deep; spring; the largest of the sumacs [V Max Brown, 2006]
USDA [Common] Poison Ivy Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub or vine; flowers small, yellowish white to greenish, form clusters in leaf axils; 3 leaflets (trifoliate), ± coarse teeth; stem woody toward base, climbing or prostrate; fruit white to gray; buds with very fine hairs; poisonous to touch at all times (resinous oil); variable with several varieties [V Max Brown, 2005]
USDA Poison Sumac Toxicodendron vernix (L.) Kuntze Pokagon State Park, Steuben County, Indiana Notes: shrub to small tree; flowers yellowish green; leaves pinnate, 7-13+ leaflets, entire, rachis red and not winged; fruit white, in panicles; leaves scarlet red in fall; buds downy hairy; swamps, bogs, etc.; late spring to early summer (Poisonous) [V Max Brown, 2009]