They can be used to treat liver disease, diarrhea, and ulcers.

Here are North American members of the sumac genus to consider for your garden or yard.

What Is a Sumac Tree?

closeup of Rhus Sumac

The Spruce / Autumn Wood

Sumacs are generally shrubs or small trees.

Sumacs are very easy to grow and tolerant of many conditions.

Use care when handling, pruning, or disposing of these plants.

Rhus Glabra Plant with Red Leaves in Fall

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It is very similar to the more desirablestaghorn sumac, but it has smooth rather than velvety bark.

It turns a very attractive shade of bright orange or red in the autumn.

It is also sometimes known asvelvet sumac.It has large pinnate leaves with 11 to 31 toothed leaflets.

Close up of sumac sumach panicle’s bright red color in early autumn

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It is similar to smooth sumac, except the leaves are untoothed.

It has large pinnate leaves with 9 to 21 untoothed leaflets that are shiny and dark green.

The foliage turns bright red in autumn.

Bright fall colors on Winged Sumac branch tip

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It is sometimes known as sweet-scented sumac.

Female plants produce clusters of red berries that are attractive to wildlife.

Like other sumacs, it readily spreads through suckering.

RHUS AROMATICA - FRAGRANT SUMAC - JOSHUA TREE NP - 052319 A

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Both male and female plants produce flowers and fruit.

Only female plants produce flowers and berries.

This shrub is fast-growing,drought-tolerant, and it is mostly resistant to insects and diseases.

Close up of sumac blossoms

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The red berries have a tart flavor and are sometimes used in drinks.

They are also very attractive to wildlife.

Lemonade berry sumac is very easy to grow and is drought-tolerant.

Evergreen Sumac

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It also has good fire resistance, making it an excellent choice tostabilize hillsidesin areas prone to wildfires.

It is slow-growing compared to other sumacs, with less likelihood of uncontrolled spreading.

It has small pinnate leaves with small, leathery leaflets.

Close up of Lemonade Berries

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It blooms with white flowers that appear before the leaves, and it has orange-red berries.

The autumn foliage color is a muted purple or rose color.

The plant makes an attractive specimen or hedge plant, and wildlife is drawn to it.

Close up of littleleaf sumac berries

JerryFriedman / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

Like other sumacs, it is a valuable plant forprotecting native bee populations.

Like some other sumacs, Michaux’s sumac is dioeciousmale and female reproductive parts occur on separate plants.

The female plants produce white or greenish-yellow flowers followed by red fruit (drupes).

Dwarf sumac leaves

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This very short shrub is rarely used in landscape applications.

Autumn color is bright red or orange.

pilosissima)andcreeping three-Leaf sumac (Rhus trilobata’Autumn Amber.'

Close up of red sumac leaves

liz west / flickr / CC BY 2.0

Alternate common names for the species form includestink bushandscented sumac.

In some environments, it may naturalize and become invasive.

One of the first giveaways is that poison sumac has white berries while non-poisonous sumac has red berries.

Curve-billed thrasher with skunkbush berry in beak

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Poison sumac also has shorter, smooth leaves.

Sumac fruit is fruity, but not sweet.

It’s used in Middle Eastern spice blends, including za’atar.

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U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.