Download Size and Shape: Stem /Roots: Leaves: Flowers/Berries: Habitat

Poison Sumac
Size and Shape: White Berries Fall Large shrub or small tree (up to 20’ tall) Stem /Roots: Branches hairless, very slightly roughened with tiny, wart‐like surface glands, and bearing prominent leaf scars. Summer Leaves: Leaf stems include 7 to 13 oblong or oval leaflets, each about 2 to 4” long. Leaves are arranged in pairs and grow upward. Leaves are bright green in the summer and red in the fall. Flowers/Berries: White flowers in July, Flowers are 1½‐8in. long, spreading or pendulous panicle‐like clusters that arise from leaf axils; berries whitish or drab. Poisonous Sumac – smooth edge leaflet; grown in wet areas; white berries Habitat: Grows in very wet soil/peat bogs i.e. wet woods, edges of swamps and lakes Toxicity: Poison Sumac contains the same allergen (“Urushiol”) as Poison Ivy. Contact with any part of the plant (summer or winter) may cause a severe allergic reaction. The symptoms of poison sumac are identical to poison oak and poison ivy, a blistering type rash on a red base, where the blisters are usually filled with fluid. They can be streaky and very itchy. Wipe exposed area with alcohol and wash with soap and water. The majority of cases do need to be treated. Treatment will make the patient more comfortable and reduce risk of skin infections.
Non Poisonous Sumac (Staghorn) – toothed edge leaflet ‐ grown in dry areas