Winged Sumac
(Rhus copallina)
Cashew Family (Anacardiaceae)

Description:  Shrub with hairy twigs, milky sap, and small greenish flowers
Flowers: clusters to 6" (15cm) long, dense pyramidal, terminal.
Leaves: Hairy, pinnately compound, with winged midrib between untoothed shiny leaflets 3" (t.5 cm) long. 
Fruit:  berry-like, reddish-brown, covered with short hairs.
Height:  3-30' (90-900 cm).
Flowering:  July-September.
Habitat:  Dry woods and clearings.
Range:  New York south to Florida; west to Texas; north to Kansas and Wisconsin.
Comments:  Like the Smooth (R. glabra) and Staghorn (R. Typhina) Sumacs, this plant is cropped by deer and moose. The fruits are rich in Vitamin A and , though apparently not much relished by birds, are a valuable food source in winter when other fruits are scarce. 

Description:  A small tree with a short trunk and open crown of stout, spreading branches.
Height: 25" (7.6 m).
Diameter:; 6" (15 cm).
Leaves: pinnately compound; to 12" (30 cm) long; with flat broad-winged axis. 7-17 leaflets (27 in southeastern variety) 1-3 1/4" (2.5-8 cm long; lance-shaped; usually without teeth; slightly thickened. Shiny dark green and nearly hairless above, paler and covered with fine hairs beneath; turning dark reddish-purple in autumn; stalkless.
Bark: light brown or gray; scaly.
Twigs:  brown, stout, slightly zigzag, covered with fine hairs; with watery sap
Flowers: 1/8" (3 mm) wide; with 5 greenish-white petals; crowded in spreading clusters to 3" (13 cm) wide, with hairy branches; male and female usually on separate plants; in late summer.
Fruit: more than 1/8" (3 mm) in diameter; 1-seeded; crowded in clusters; rounded and slightly flattened, dark red, covered with short sticky red hairs; maturing in autumn, remaining attached in winter.
Habitat: Open uplands, valleys, edges of forests, grasslands, clearings, roadsides, and waste places.
Range: S. Ontario east to SW Maine, south to Florida, west to central Texas, and north to Wisconsin; to 4500" (1372 m) in the Southeast.

Is sometimes planted as an ornamental for its shiny leaves and showy fruit. The sour fruit can be nibbled or made into a drink like lemonade. Wildlife eat the fruit, and deer also browse the twigs. It is easily distinguishable from other sumacs by the winged leaf axis and watery sap. Often forms thickets.