Sumac

Sumac
Sumac fruit in fall
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Anacardiaceae
Subfamily:	Anacardioideae
Genus:	Rhus (syn. Searsia) L.[1]
Type species
Rhus coriaria L.[2]
Species
About 250 species; see text

Sumac (/ˈsjuːmæk/ or /ˈʃuːmæk/; also spelled sumach) is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America.^[3][4]

Sumacs are shrubs and small trees that can reach a height of 1–10 metres (3.3–32.8 ft). The leaves are spirally arranged; they are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes 5–30 centimetres (2.0–11.8 in) long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits form dense clusters of reddish drupes called sumac bobs. The dried drupes of some species are ground to produce a tangy crimson spice.^[5][6]

Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new shoots from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies.

The word sumac traces its etymology from Old French sumac (13th century), from Mediaeval Latin sumach, from Arabic summāq (سماق), from Syriac summāq (ܣܘܡܩ)- meaning "red."^[7]

Cultivation and uses

Sumac spice

Species including the Fragrant Sumac (R. aromatica), the Littleleaf Sumac (R. microphylla), the Skunkbush Sumac (R. trilobata), the Smooth Sumac and the Staghorn Sumac are grown for ornament, either as the wild types or as cultivars.

Spice and beverage flavoring

The fruits (drupes) of the genus Rhus are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to salads or meat.^[5] In Arab cuisine, it is used as a garnish on meze dishes such as hummus and is added to salads in the Levant. In Iranian (Persian and Kurdish) cuisine, sumac is added to rice or kebab. In Jordanian and Turkish cuisine, it is added to salad-servings of kebabs and lahmacun. Rhus coriaria is used in the spice mixture za'atar.^[8][9]

In North America, the Smooth Sumac (R. glabra) and the Staghorn Sumac (R. typhina) are sometimes used to make a beverage termed "sumac-ade," "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing them to extract the essence, straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Native Americans also used the leaves and drupes of the Smooth and Staghorn Sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.

Candlewax

In East Asia, in particular in Japan, traditional candle fuel was produced from Rhus verniciflua and Rhus succedanea (synonym of Toxicodendron succedaneum), among other sumac plants, rather than beeswax or animal fats. The sumac wax was a byproduct of traditional Japanese lacquer manufacture. The conical rousoku candles produced from sumac wax burn with smokeless flame and were favored in many respects over candles made from lard or beeswax during the Tokugawa shogunate. The Japan wax itself is not a true wax but a solid fat that contains 10-15% palmitin, stearin, and olein with about 1% japanic acid (1,21-heneicosanedioic acid). It is still used in many tropical and subtropical countries in the production of wax match sticks.

Dye and tanning agent

The leaves of certain sumacs yield tannin (mostly pyrogallol-type), a substance used in vegetable tanning. Notable sources include the leaves of R. coriaria, Chinese gall on R. chinensis, and wood and roots of R. pentaphylla. Leather tanned with sumac is flexible, light in weight, and light in color. One type of leather made with sumac tannins is morocco leather.^[10]

Medicinal use

Sumac was used as a treatment for half a dozen different ailments in medieval medicine, primarily in Middle-Eastern countries (where sumac was more readily available than in Europe). An 11th-century shipwreck off the coast of Rhodes, excavated by archeologists in the 1970s, contained commercial quantities of sumac drupes. These could have been intended for use as medicine, or as a culinary spice, or as a dye.^[11] Staghorn sumac is a powerful antioxidant, with ORAC rating over 1500 μmol TE/g.^[12]

Other uses

Some beekeepers use dried sumac bobs as a source of fuel for their smokers.^[13]

Sumac stems also have a soft pith in the center that is useful in traditional native American pipemaking. They were commonly used as pipe stems in the northern United States.^[14]

Dried sumac wood fluoresces under long-wave ultraviolet radiation, commonly known as black light.^[15]

Toxicity and control

Some species, such as Poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron, syn.Toxicodendron radicans), Poison oak (Rhus diversiloba, syn. Toxicodendron diversilobum) and Poison sumac (Rhus vernix, syn. Toxicodendron vernix), have the allergen urushiol and can cause severe allergic reactions. Poison sumac may be identified by its white drupes.

Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure, since the wood is springy, resulting in jagged, sharp pointed stumps when mowed. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing.^[16] Goats have long been considered an efficient and quick removal method as they eat the bark, which helps prevent new shoots.

Taxonomy

Drupes of a Staghorn Sumac in Coudersport, PA

A young branch of Staghorn Sumac

Rhus lancea fruit

Staghorn Sumac bob, Hamilton, Ontario

Winged Sumac leaves and flowers

Rhus malloryi fossil

At times Rhus has held over 250 species. Recent molecular phylogeny research suggests breaking Rhus sensu lato into Actinocheita, Baronia, Cotinus, Malosma, Searsia, Toxicodendron, and Rhus sensu stricto. If this is done, about 35 species would remain in Rhus. However, the data are not yet clear enough to settle the proper placement of all species into these genera.^[17][18]

Selected species

See also

• List of Southern African indigenous trees
• Za'atar

References

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhus.

Wikispecies has information related to: Rhus

• Global Biodiversity Information Facility portal: Rhus