Dwarf sumac

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Dwarf sumac habit

Dwarf sumac inflorescence

Dwarf sumac bud

Dwarf sumac

Dwarf sumac habit

Dwarf sumac inflorescence

Dwarf sumac leaf scar

Dwarf sumac leaves

Dwarf sumac leaves

Dwarf sumac inflorescence

Dwarf sumac buds

Dwarf sumac inflorescence

Dwarf sumac fruit

Dwarf sumac

Dwarf sumac fruit

Dwarf sumac

Morphology

Trunk

Shrubs or trees; stems or trunk erect; bark grayish brown, smooth or fissures shallow; wood yellowish brown, soft.

Twigs

Brown, hairy with curled hairs or glabrate, brittle; leaf scars U-shaped; buds ovoid, apex acute, scales pubescent.

Leaves

Deciduous, alternate, odd-pinnately compound; stipules absent; petiole 1.2 to 3.2 inches, minutely pubescent; blade 6 to 10 inches; rachis winged; leaflets 9-15, sessile or terminal one with blade abruptly tapered and appearing petiolulate, elliptic to ovate, 2 to 3.2 inches long, 1 to 1.6 inches wide, base acute to obtuse, margins entire, rarely obscurely toothed, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface light green, pubescent, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous or sparsely pilose.

Flowers

Panicles, terminal on new growth, 4 to 8 inches long, 4.8 to 7 inches wide; 100-300-flowered; peduncles .4 to .8 inch, densely pilose; pedicels .2 to .4 inch, densely pilose. Flowers mostly unisexual, some bisexual also present, radially symmetric; sepals 5, connate proximally, greenish white, ovate, .04 to .06 inch; petals 5, distinct, greenish yellow, ovate to elliptic, .1 to .12 inch; staminate: stamens 5; pistillate; pistil 1, styles 3; stigmas 3, head-shaped.

Fruit

August and September; drupes, crimson to red, globose, .15 to .18 inch, viscid-pubescent; stone 1, olive-brown, ovate to kidney-shaped, smooth to somewhat rough.

Ecology

Habitat

Rocky, open, wooded hillsides, prairies, roadsides, and old fields

Distribution

East 1/3 of Kansas

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans used the fruits to make red and black dyes and used the bark and fruits medicinally.

Additional Notes