The most commonly encountered species is the Staghorn Sumac (pictured right). Its stems and fruit are covered with a velvet of fine hairs like the growing antlers of a deer or elk.
Smooth Sumac lacks the velvety hairs. Dwarf or Winged Sumac has wing-like projects between its leaflets.
Staghorn, Dwarf and Smooth Sumac grow as shrubs to small trees in dry upland soils. They have compound leaves with toothed leaflets. Their tight fruit clusters are red and point upward.
Staghorn Sumac tend to fruit in July, Smooth Sumac in August and Dwarf Sumac in September and October.
In contrast, Poison Sumac is found exclusively in swamps (It is said that your shoes need to be underwater to find a Poison Sumac!). It has compound leaves with smooth leaflets. Its loose fruit clusters are white and droop downward. All parts of the Poison Sumac produce urushiol, the same compound that causes the rash of poison ivy.
