T r e e s  o f  N o r t h  C a r o l i n a

Rhus L. (Anacardiaceae)

A genus of about twenty-five species of trees, shrubs, and lianas; temperate and subtropical, of Eurasia, Hawaii, North America, and n. Central America.

Three species reach small tree size in North Carolina. All three are native to the state.

Key to Rhus in North Carolina

1. Rachis of the leaf winged between each pair of adjacent leaflets; stems and petioles puberulent; leaflets entire to remotely toothed; leaflets 11-25, attenuate to base, 2-9 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, either >3× as long as wide or < 4 cm long; leaflet margins entire (rarely serrate)...R. copallinum (Winged sumac)

1. Rachis of the leaf not winged between each pair of adjacent leaflets (sometimes winged between the last 1 or 2 pairs of leaflets on each side of the rachis); stems and petioles either densely villous or essentially glabrous; leaflets sharply and rather coarsely serrate...2.

2. Stems essentially glabrous; pubescence of the fruit short and blunt-tipped...R. glabra (Smooth sumac)

2. Stems densely long-pubescent; pubescence of the fruit long and pointed...R. typhina (Staghorn sumac)