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Plant · P-961
Sumac Smooth
Rhus glabra
Smooth sumac is a fast-growing native North American shrub that colonizes ground by root suckers, forming dense thickets topped with feathery compound leaves that turn brilliant red in fall. Its cone-shaped clusters of fuzzy red berries persist through winter, feeding birds, and can be soaked in water to make a tart, lemonade-like drink. It tolerates poor, dry, rocky soil in full sun to part shade, and a spreading colony is easily rejuvenated by cutting it to the ground.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 3–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 6.1–7.8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 9–15 ft
- Mature spread
- 9–15 ft
- Plant spacing
- 9–15 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Root
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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