Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-1029
Evergreen Sumac
Rhus virens
Evergreen Sumac is a shrub or small tree native to rocky slopes, gullies and limestone hills from central Texas and southern New Mexico south into central Mexico. Its glossy, pinnately compound leaves hold their color through most of winter before dropping briefly and being replaced within a week by a fresh flush, giving it a mostly evergreen presence with pink-tinted new growth in spring and maroon tones after frost. Small creamy white, honey-scented flowers open in late summer and draw bees and butterflies, followed by red, fuzzy berries that ripen into fall and are eaten by birds and small mammals. It grows fast on very well-drained, low-fertility, dry rocky soil in full sun to partial shade, and is generally free of pests and disease once established.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 8–11
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 6.1–7.8
- Plant type
- Evergreen Tree
- Mature height
- 6–10 ft
- Mature spread
- 6–11.5 ft
- Plant spacing
- 6–8 ft
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Root
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
African Blue Basil
Ocimum kilimandscharicum
African Blue Basil is a sterile hybrid between camphor basil and the purple-leaved Dark Opal basil, propagated from cuttings rather than seed…
Shrub · USDA 10–11
Agarita
Alloberberis trifoliolata
Agarita is a dense, spiny-leaved evergreen shrub of rocky limestone hills, slopes and thickets from south Texas through the Trans-Pecos to…
Shrub · USDA 7–9
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
American Beautyberry is an arching deciduous shrub of rich woods, moist thickets and swamp edges across the southeastern and south-central…
Shrub · USDA 6–10
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
American Elderberry gives two harvests a year - creamy flower clusters in June for cordial, fritters and tea, and purple-black berries in…
Shrub · USDA 4–8
American Hazelnut
Corylus americana
American Hazelnut is a thicket-forming shrub that bears small, thick-shelled nuts good raw or cooked, and it pollinates itself, so a single…
Shrub · USDA 4–9
American Plum
Prunus americana
American Plum forms dense thorny thickets by suckering from its own roots, spreading itself into a hedge across most of temperate North…
Shrub · USDA 3–8
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference