Plant · P-1028

Flameleaf Sumac

Rhus lanceolata

Flameleaf Sumac is a small deciduous tree or large shrub native to rocky limestone hills, prairies and canyons of the southern Great Plains and northern Mexico. Its winged compound leaves turn vivid orange and red in fall, giving the plant its name, and clusters of small yellowish-green to white flowers open in mid to late summer, followed by dense pyramidal clusters of dark red, fuzzy fruit that persist into fall for birds and deer. It grows on rocky, alkaline, well-drained soil and tolerates drought and heat once established, spreading by root suckers into colonies if the ground around it is disturbed.