Sumac or sumach ( , )—not to be confused with poison sumac—is any of the roughly 35 species of in the genus Rhus (and related genera) of the cashew and mango tree family, Anacardiaceae. However, it is Rhus coriaria that is most commonly used for culinary purposes. Sumac is prized as a spice—especially in Kurdish cuisine, Arab cuisine, Lebanese cuisine, Turkish cuisine, Armenian cuisine, Iranian cuisine, and other Eastern cuisines—and used as a Natural dye and holistic remedy. The plants grow in Subtropics and temperate regions, on nearly every continent except Antarctica and South America.
Description
Sumacs are
dioecious and small
in the family
Anacardiaceae that can reach a height of . The
leaf are usually
Pinnate, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The
are in dense
or spikes long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The
are reddish, thin-fleshed
covered in varying levels of hairs at maturity and form dense clusters at branch tips, sometimes called sumac bobs.
Sumacs propagate both by seed (Zoochorous by and other animals through their feces), and by new shoots from , forming large Clonal colony.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of
Rhus has a long history, with
de Candolle proposing a subgeneric classification with 5 sections in 1825. At its largest circumscription,
Rhus, with over 250 species, has been the largest genus in the family
Anacardiaceae.
Other authors used subgenera and placed some species in separate genera, hence the use of Rhus sensu lato and Rhus sensu stricto ( s.s.). One classification uses two subgenera, Rhus (about 10 spp.) and Lobadium (about 25 spp.), while at the same time Cotinus, Duckera, Malosma, Metopium, Searsia and Toxicodendron segregated to create Rhus s.s.. Other genera that have been segregated include Actinocheita and Baronia. As defined, Rhus s.s. appears monophyletic by molecular phylogeny research. However, the subgenera do not appear to be monophyletic. The larger subgenus, Lobadium, has been divided further into sections, Lobadium, Terebinthifolia, and Styphonia (two subsections).
Accepted species by continent
As of November 2024, Plants of the World Online accepts 54 species.
[
]
Asia, North Africa and southern Europe
Australia, Pacific
North America
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Rhus allophyloides
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Rhus andrieuxii
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Rhus aromatica – fragrant sumac
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Rhus arsenei
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Rhus × ashei ( R. glabra × R. michauxii)
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Rhus bahamensis
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Rhus barclayi
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Rhus chondroloma
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Rhus choriophylla
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Rhus ciliolata
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Rhus copallinum – winged or shining sumac
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Rhus duckerae
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Rhus galeottii
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Rhus glabra – smooth sumac
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Rhus integrifolia – lemonade sumac
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Rhus jaliscana
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Rhus kearneyi – Kearney sumac
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Rhus lanceolata – prairie sumac
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Rhus lentii
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Rhus michauxii – Michaux's sumac
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Rhus microphylla – desert sumac, littleleaf sumac
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Rhus muelleri
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Rhus nelsonii
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Rhus oaxacana
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Rhus ovata – sugar sumac
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Rhus pachyrrhachis
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Rhus palmeri
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Rhus × pulvinata ( R. glabra × R. typhina)
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Rhus rubifolia
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Rhus schiedeana
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Rhus schmidelioides
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Rhus standleyi
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Rhus tamaulipana
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Rhus tepetate
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Rhus terebinthifolia
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Rhus trilobata Thomas Nuttall – skunkbush sumac
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Rhus typhina – staghorn sumac
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Rhus vestita
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Rhus virens Lindh. ex Asa Gray– evergreen sumac
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† Rhus boothillensis Flynn, DeVore, & Pigg-Ypresian, Washington
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† Rhus garwellii Flynn, DeVore, & Pigg-Ypresian, Washington
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† Rhus malloryi Wolfe & Wehr – Ypresian, Washington
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† Rhus republicensis Flynn, DeVore, & Pigg-Ypresian, Washington
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† Rhus rooseae Manchester – Middle Eocene, Oregon
Formerly placed here
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Searsia mysorensis (as Rhus mysorensis ) – Mysore sumac
Etymology
The word sumac traces its etymology from Old French sumac (13th century), from Mediaeval Latin sumach, from Arabic (سماق), from Syriac language ()- meaning "red".
File:Sumac-Drupes.JPG|Drupes of a staghorn sumac in Coudersport, Pennsylvania
File:Rhus typhina.JPG|A young branch of staghorn sumac
File:Rhus copallinum.jpg|Winged sumac leaves and flowers
File:Rhus sp hybrid SRIC SR 00-05-19.jpg| Rhus hybrid fossil – about 49.5 million years old, Early Ypresian, Klondike Mountain Formation, Washington
File:Sumaq.jpg|Iranian sumac
Cultivation and uses
Species including the fragrant sumac ( Rhus aromatica), the littleleaf sumac ( Rhus microphylla), the smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), and the staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) are grown for Ornamental plant, either as the wild types or as .
In food
The dried fruits of some species are ground to produce a tangy, crimson spice popular in many countries.[One may use sumac as a tisane or tea substitute by boiling the dried leaves. Sumac - Ingredients - Taste.com.au]
The fruits () of Rhus coriaria are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in many different cuisines to add a tart, taste to salads or meat.[Christine Manfield, Charlie Trotter, Ashley Barber -Spice 2008 - Page 28 "Sumac This reddish ground spice is made from the berries of the sumac bush,"][Aliza Green Field Guide to Herbs & Spices: How to Identify, Select, and Use ... 2006 - Page 257 "In Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, sumac is cooked with water to a thick sour paste, which is added to meat and vegetable dishes; this method was also common in Roman times. Sumac appears in the middle eastern spice mixture za'atar (page 288) ..."]
During Middle Ages, primarily from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, sumac appeared in cookbooks frequently used by the affluent in Western Europe. One dish in particular called sumāqiyya, a stew made from sumac, was frequently rendered as "somacchia" by Europeans.
In North America, the smooth sumac ( Rhus glabra), three-leaf sumac ( Rhus trilobata), and staghorn sumac ( Rhus 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 use the leaves and drupes of these sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.
Dye and tanning agent
The leaves and bark of most sumac species contain high levels of and have been used in the manufacturing of leather by many cultures around the world. The Hebrew name og ha-bursaka'im means "tanner's sumac", as does the Latin name of Rhus coriaria. 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 Rhus chinensis, and wood and roots of Rhus 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.
The dyeing property of sumac needed to be considered when it was shipped as a fine floury substance in sacks as a light cargo accompanying heavy cargoes such as marble. Sumac was especially dangerous to marble: "When sumac dust settles on white marble, the result is not immediately apparent, but if it once becomes wet, or even damp, it becomes a powerful purple dye, which penetrates the marble to an extraordinary depth."
Ibn Badis describes a formula for making red ink out of leeched sumac mixed with gum.
kōrozen was used for only the outerwear of the Emperor of Japan, thus being one of the forbidden сolors.
Traditional medicinal use
Sumac was used as a treatment for several different ailments in medieval medicine, primarily in West, Central and South Asian 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 . These could have been intended for use as medicine, as a culinary spice, or as a dye.
Other uses
Some beekeepers use dried sumac bobs as a source of fuel for their Bee smoker.[Avitabile, Alphonse. Sammataro, Diana. The Beekeeper's Handbook. Publisher: Comstock 1998. ]
Sumac stems also have a soft pith in the center that is easily removed to make them useful in traditional Native American pipemaking. They were commonly used as pipe stems in the northern United States.[Lewis, Thomas H. The Medicine Men: Oglala Sioux Ceremony and Healing. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press. 1992. ]
Dried sumac wood Fluorescence under long-wave ultraviolet radiation.
Toxicity and control
Some species formerly recognized in Rhus, such as poison ivy ( Toxicodendron radicans, syn. Rhus toxicodendron), Rhus diversiloba ( Toxicodendron diversilobum, syn. Rhus diversiloba), and poison sumac ( Toxicodendron vernix, syn. Rhus vernix), produce the allergen urushiol and can cause severe delayed hypersensitivity reactions. Poison sumac may be identified by its white drupes, which are quite different from the red drupes of true Rhus species.
Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure, since the wood is springy, resulting in jagged, sharp-pointed stumps when mown. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing.
Explanatory notes
Further reading
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Moffett, RO. "A Revision of Southern African Rhus species". FSA ( Flora of South Africa) vol 19 (3) Fascicle 1.
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External links
