Trees of Alabama and the Southeast Home Page

Leaves are compound, alternate, and deciduous with a pubescent rachis.  Leaves turn bright red in the fall. Young twigs are red-brown and stout with wooly hairs, milky sap, and U-shaped leaf scars which nearly encircle lateral buds.  Bark is gray and smooth with lenticels.  Flowers are greenish-white. Fruit is a cluster of bright red drupes.  Staghorn sumac is a shrub or small tree forming thickets in open areas in the eastern U.S. and as far south as northwest Alabama. The fruits are eaten by birds and are very tart in taste.

Click on photo to enlarge.

All text and photographs are intended for educational purposes only and are not for commercial use in any form.  All photographs are copyrighted by the named photographer(s), text copyright by Lisa Samuelson. © 2005, all rights reserved. Photographs by Mike Hogan.