// SPECIES PROFILE · SHRUB · NATIVE

Winged Sumac

Rhus copallinum

Winged sumac (Rhus copallinum), also called shining sumac or flameleaf sumac, is the prairie-and-glade companion to smooth sumac across NE Oklahoma — distinguished by the small green leafy 'wings' running along its compound leaf rachis and even glossier scarlet October fall foliage. A thicket-forming, drought-tolerant pioneer shrub of dry roadside fencerows, abandoned pastures, glades, and savanna edges across the eastern half of the state.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Anacardiaceae — cashew/sumac family
Group: Shrub — suckering, thicket-forming, deciduous
Native range: Eastern N. America from S. Maine to N. Florida and west to E. Texas / E. OK
USDA hardiness: Zones 4–9
Mature size: 10–20 ft tall, often forming colonies 20–40 ft wide
Sun: Full sun preferred; tolerates light shade
Soil: Lean to average, well-drained; thrives on rocky/poor sites; pH 5.5–8.0
Water: Highly drought-tolerant once established
Sex: Dioecious — male and female plants separate
Bloom: Greenish-yellow panicles, June–July
Fruit: Dense red berry clusters on female plants, ripening Aug–Sept, persisting through winter
Wildlife: Larval host of red-banded hairstreak; winter food for 30+ bird species

Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) — *Rhus copallinum*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Identification

[ field key — habit · foliage · flowers/fruit · lookalikes ]

Habit & bark

Multi-stemmed colonial shrub or small tree, suckering aggressively from shallow lateral roots to form dense round-topped thickets 10–20 ft tall and 20–40 ft wide on favorable sites. Bark is smooth, gray to reddish-brown, with conspicuous lighter horizontal lenticels; older trunks become slightly fissured. Stems are stout and pithy — you can hollow them with a wire (Indigenous pipestem use).

Foliage — the diagnostic 'wings'

Pinnately compound leaves 6–14 in long with 9–21 leaflets. The diagnostic field character: the leaf rachis (central stalk) bears narrow green leafy 'wings' running between each pair of leaflets — visible at arm’s length, unmistakable up close. Leaflets are lance-shaped, 1–3 in long, untoothed (entire) margins, glossy bright green above. Fall color is brilliant scarlet to crimson-orange — among the showiest fall colors in the regional flora, often beginning in mid-September.

Flowers & fruit

Dioecious: separate male and female plants. Male flowers are tiny greenish-yellow, in airy panicles. Female flowers cluster in dense terminal pyramidal panicles 4–8 in long, ripening to compact pyramids of fuzzy crimson-red drupes in late summer, persisting through winter on female colonies. Fruit is sour-tart with a citric tang — the source of traditional 'sumac lemonade.'

Lookalikes

Rhus glabra (smooth sumac) lacks the wings on the rachis; otherwise very similar (often shares fencerows). Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac) is a more northern species with densely fuzzy stems. Toxicodendron vernix (poison sumac) has WHITE drupes (not red), grows only in wet swamps, lacks rachis wings, and is genuinely toxic — will not co-occur with winged sumac in the dry sites where this species lives. Red-fruited Rhus species are all safe; white-fruited Toxicodendron species are not.

Habitat & Range in NE Oklahoma

Winged sumac is one of the most widespread and characteristic shrubs of the eastern half of Oklahoma — dry roadside fencerows, abandoned pastures, post-fire prairie edges, sandstone glades of the Cross Timbers, limestone glades of the western Ozarks, and the open savanna ecotone throughout the Tulsa-Bartlesville-Tahlequah region. Especially common along Highway 412 and Highway 51 right-of-ways through Cherokee, Adair, and Sequoyah counties.

Like its close relatives, winged sumac is a fire-adapted pioneer — established colonies resprout vigorously from rhizomes after burning or cutting, often returning denser than before. It tolerates the full range of regional dry-to-mesic soils but truly thrives on lean rocky sites where less drought-tolerant shrubs cannot establish. In the deep tallgrass prairie of Osage County it persists primarily on rocky breaks and creek-bench fire-refugia.

Ecology & Wildlife Value

[ wildlife · pollinators · interactions · conservation ]

Winter bird food

Persistent crimson fruit clusters on female plants are among the most important winter berry crops in NE Oklahoma. Eastern bluebird, American robin, gray catbird, mockingbird, brown thrasher, hermit thrush, yellow-rumped warbler, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, and bobwhite quail all feed; over 30 bird species are documented. The lipid-poor but persistent fruits are a critical late-winter starvation food.

Lepidoptera hosts

Larval host plant for the red-banded hairstreak butterfly (Calycopis cecrops) — though uniquely, the caterpillars feed not on living foliage but on fallen, decomposing winged-sumac leaves. Also host for the showy emerald moth, the regal moth (Citheronia regalis), and dozens of other moths. Doug Tallamy ranks Rhus in the top tier of regional Lepidoptera-supporting woody plants.

Pollinators

The greenish-yellow flowers in midsummer are major nectar resources for bumblebees, leafcutter bees, mining bees, soldier beetles, syrphid flies, paper wasps, and many other pollinators. Sumac panicles in July are reliably alive with insect activity. Important midsummer nectar bridge between the spring bloom flush and goldenrod/aster fall bloom.

Erosion control & restoration

The dense lateral root system makes Rhus copallinum an excellent erosion-control species on cuts, slopes, and disturbed banks. NRCS recommends it for highway-roadside revegetation throughout its range. The thicket habit also provides excellent cover for rabbits, ground-nesting birds, and small mammals.

Suckering — feature or bug. Winged sumac forms broad colonies through aggressive root-suckering. In the right place (back of a property, roadside fencerow, naturalized hedge, restoration planting) this is desirable; in a small formal landscape it is invasive and difficult to control. Plan for the full mature footprint — or use it deliberately as a naturalizing thicket species, not a single specimen.

Sumac vs. poison sumac — the key distinction. All Rhus species in NE Oklahoma (smooth, winged, fragrant) bear upright clusters of red, fuzzy fruit and are completely safe. The unrelated poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) bears drooping clusters of white smooth fruit and grows only in wet swamps and bogs — it does NOT occur in the dry sites where winged sumac lives. If you see red upright sumac fruit clusters on a dry rocky bank in Oklahoma, the plant is safe to handle, harvest, and brew.

Horticulture & Care

[ siting · planting · maintenance · pests ]

When to plant intentionally

Use winged sumac as a naturalized hedge or screening thicket on dry rocky sites where conventional shrubs struggle, as a wildlife thicket on rural property, as roadside erosion control, and as a high-impact fall-color element in larger native-plant gardens. Especially valuable on the back boundary of suburban Tulsa lots that adjoin natural greenbelts. Site it where the suckering colony is welcome — it will not stay where you plant it.

Planting & establishment

Season: dormant fall through early spring; bare-root or B&B stock establishes faster than container plants.
Sun: full sun preferred; tolerates light shade with reduced fall color.
Soil: any well-drained soil, including rocky clay and lean sand. Will not tolerate constantly wet bottoms.
Spacing: 6–10 ft on-center for a deliberate hedge; 15–20 ft for individual specimens (with the understanding that suckers will fill the gaps).
Water: weekly deep soaks first growing season; no supplemental water thereafter.
Mulch: 2–3 in mulch ring; not strictly necessary on established plants.
Fertilizer: none.

Maintenance & sucker control

If the colony spreads into unwanted ground, mow or cut the suckers at ground level annually in late winter — this controls expansion without harming the parent thicket. To remove a colony entirely, repeated cutting through 2–3 growing seasons combined with minimal regrowth removal will exhaust the rhizome reserves. Glyphosate cut-stump treatments are effective but rarely needed.

Pruning

Minimal pruning needed. Remove dead canes anytime; thin the oldest stems at ground level every 4–5 years to keep the colony vigorous. Avoid pruning during the leaf-out flush in spring (heavy sap bleeding).

Pests & diseases

Sumac scale (Lecanium) — minor cosmetic pest in some seasons.
Verticillium wilt — can kill individual stems; remove and destroy affected canes.
Generally tough and trouble-free; deer-resistant.
Female plants only set the showy fruit — if you want fall fruit, source named female cultivars or buy 3+ seedlings to ensure a female in the mix.

Cultural & Material Uses

Winged sumac shares a long human-use history with its close relatives (smooth and staghorn sumac), centered on the tart edible fruit and dense rot-resistant pithy stems.

Sumac lemonade & culinary use: The ripe red fruit clusters of all native red-fruited Rhus species — including R. copallinum, R. glabra, and R. typhina — are soaked in cool water, strained, and sweetened to make a tart pink 'sumac lemonade'. The flavor comes from malic acid in the fruit hairs. Modern Middle Eastern cuisine uses ground sumac (typically R. coriaria, but native species substitute well) as the za’atar spice base.
Indigenous medicinal & utility uses: Cherokee, Choctaw, Iroquois, Meskwaki, and many other nations used various sumac preparations for sore throats, gastric complaints, sores, and as a dye source. Pith from hollow stems was used to make ceremonial pipe stems and small reed instruments. Documented in Moerman’s Native American Ethnobotany.
Tannin source: Sumac leaves are extremely high in tannins (15–35% by dry weight in some species) and were historically commercially harvested for tanning fine leather, particularly in Sicily and Greece. In the central US, sumac was a minor commercial tannin source in the 1800s before chrome-tanning displaced vegetable tanning.
Fall-color landscape value: Among the showiest fall-color shrubs of the eastern US, R. copallinum is featured prominently in fall-color tour guides for the Ozarks, Ouachitas, and Appalachians. NRCS and state highway departments throughout the eastern US use it in roadside revegetation specifically for the autumn display.
Wildlife restoration plantings: Highly recommended in NRCS pollinator-habitat and wildlife-cover plantings throughout the southern plains. Excellent species for restoring degraded ex-pasture to wildlife-friendly thicket habitat.

Sources & Further Reading

USDA NRCS PLANTS Database — Rhus copallinum: https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/RHCO
USDA Forest Service Silvics of North America — Rhus copallinum: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/rhus/copallinum.htm
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Rhus copallinum: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=rhco
Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder — Rhus copallinum: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=276902
OSU Extension — native shrubs for Oklahoma landscapes.
Moerman, D. (1998), Native American Ethnobotany, Timber Press — Rhus entries.
Tallamy, D.W. (2007/2020), Bringing Nature Home — Rhus in regional Lepidoptera support rankings.
Wikipedia — Rhus copallinum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhus_copallinum

Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributors under their respective licenses.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a Cross Timbers oak-hickory savanna, winged sumac pairs naturally with: eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia), osage orange (Maclura pomifera), maypop / passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica).

Site winged sumac on the woodland edge or in the mid-layer of a guild beneath taller canopy trees.