Description
Latin: Rhus typhina
Other common names: velvet sumac, hairy sumac
Mature Height: 15 ft
Soil / Climate: Grows well in low nutrient soils, sun and shade. Staghorn sumac grows in gardens, lawns, the edges of forests, and wasteland. It can grow under a wide array of conditions, but is most often found in dry and poor soil on which other plants cannot survive. Tolerates a wide range of climates.
Notes: Long slender leaves change from bright green to orange-red in the autumn. Flowers are dense yellow-green and fragrant. Fruit forms in dense, bright red, compact clusters, and persists thoughout winter. Sumac will spread from root suckers. Some beekeepers use dried sumac bobs as a source of fuel for their smokers. All parts of the staghorn sumac, except the roots, can be used as a natural dye. Branches have a hairy texture.
Wildlife: Fruit is eaten by turkey, ruffed grouse, bobwhite, pheasant, and many others.
Cold Stream Farm supplies Staghorn Sumac shrubs which are grown as bare root seedlings and transplants and sold both wholesale and retail with no minimum order.
Additional information on Rhus typhina can be found on the link:Â USDA / NRCS PLANTS Database.
Travis –
Took off like gangbusters! And Cold Stream delivers a great product!
I claimed the gardening at the end of our dead end street. It was way overgrown with bush honeysuckle. The city hacked it back, thankfully, and I planted 25 of these babies in place. Only one season of growth, but they more than doubled in height. I’ll still have to prune back the competitors, but this is what I wanted so the honeysuckle doesn’t totally reclaim this land. Looking forward to making Rhus juice pink lemonade.
David –
We’re trying to eliminate bush honeysuckle from a large tree line around a 3.5 acre lot and so there’s a ton of hacking back and we needed something to take its place. We ordered 25 of the 2-3′ ones from Cold Stream, not expecting much as far as size. But when they got here we were blown away – these are not reedy 2-3′ tall whips, they’re nice thick trunked young trees almost, and we got 28 of them. At first after planting I thought nothing was taking as there was zero new growth after a week or more of warm weather. Then I noticed some growth that was gone the next day and I realized that the deer resistance is definitely not sufficient for a highly deer pressured urban area like ours. So, I caged all 28 of the sumacs and they quickly recovered from the deer browsing. At first there was one that looked like it wasn’t going to grow, but now even that one has new growth. So while my forest looks like a supermax prison for now, there’s a nice toe hold of natives to start fighting back the invasives. I’ll definitely be ordering more from Cold Stream for future planting seasons!