| The Question: How do you identify Poison sumac? Submitted by: Ellie, MA, USA |
The Short Answer: Poison sumac is a large shrub or small tree found in wet areas. It has compound leaves with 7-13 smooth-edged leaflets, as shown in figure 1. The stalk of the compound leaf is reddish. To differentiate poison sumac from other common sumacs, count the number of leaflets. Staghorn and smooth sumac have more than 13 leaflets, and the leaflets have a serrated edge. Dwarf sumac can have the same number of leaflets as poison 
sumac, but the leaf stalk has “wings”, as show in figure 3, in keeping with its alternate name, winged sumac.
More Info: Poison sumac, Toxicodendron vernix, is part of the large Anacardiaceae plant family. The Anacardiaceae includes cashew, mango, pistachio, and the “poisonous” plants so painfully familiar to North Americans. Poison sumac is in the same genus as Eastern poison-ivy, Western poison-ivy, Eastern poison-oak, and Western poison-oak, which means it’s closely related to them. They all produce urushiol, the oil that causes such an agonizing allergic reaction. But the plants are probably not trying to irritate your skin. Most likely they produce urushiol to fend off sap-sucking insects. It’s not clear why people are so susceptible to urushiol. Birds and bears eat the berries of poison sumac, poison-ivy, and poison-oak and expose themselves to the leaves with no sign of harm.
Other sumacs such as staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina, are also members of the Anacardiaceae, but don’t necessarily produce urushiol. Poison sumac, while it looks more like harmless staghorn sumac than like poison-ivy and poison-oak, is actually more closely related to its three-leafed poisonous relatives. When biologists use DNA sequences to figure out the relationships between the plants in the genus Toxicodendron, the relationships between Eastern poison-ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, Western poison-ivy, Toxicodendron rydbergii, Eastern poison-oak, Toxicodendron pubescens, and Western poison-oak, Toxicodendron
diversilobum, the relationships are not clear, which suggests that there has been significant hybridization between them over time. This makes it difficult to determine where one species stops and the next begins. In any event, they can all make you miserable, so avoid them if you can.
Trivia:
The cashew plant, Anacardium occidentale, also produces urushiol, and cashews have to be handled and processed carefully to separate the cashew nut from the fruit and remove any urushiol from the nut.
References:
This site is really useful for identifying poison sumac, poison ivy and poison oak: http://www.poison-ivy.org/poison-sumac
Whats the best thing to get rid of poison sumac?
Do you mean to get rid of the plants or get rid of the itching rash?
I have a red stemmed vine with 5 green leaves in a cluster, has galls on it, growing and sticking around my deck. Is that a poison ivy or sumac?
Doesn’t sound like poison ivy, since that grows in three leave clusters. Poison sumac is not that common, and mostly grows in swamps. So I think you’re okay. But can you send a photo to tom@askanaturalist.com? Also, where do you live? Poison sumac is only found in the eastern half of the country.
How can I tell if it’s poison sumac growing near my roses? The pictures look very close. I’ve had many very severe and widespread reactions to ivy and oak, so I don’t want to take a chance removing it myself, if it is indeed sumac. I live in the Northeast United States, and the area it’s growing is very warm and well watered but not swampy. May I send you a picture of the plant?
Sure. Send your photo to tom@askanaturalist.com, in high resolution, if possible.
I have an acre of property and most of it is wooded. There is poison ivy everywhere in the woods. We have sumac, scrub oak and weeds galore. And part of the property is damp clay swamp. Could some of the small trees near the damp area be poison sumac? The house is in Athens NY in the Hudson Valley. How do i get rid of the plants?
If you could take some good pictures of the trees you think might be poison sumac, I might be able to tell you. Check the leaf count. If there are more than 13 leaflets on a stem, it’s not poison sumac. As for how to get rid of them, that’s beyond my expertise. If you Google how to remove poison ivy, you’ll get some suggestions. Mostly they involve pulling the plants out by the roots after taking precautions to make sure you don’t expose your skin to the poison ivy oil.
Does poison sumac have white flowers and is thorny?
Hi Gaynell, Poison sumac does not have thorns. And the flowers are greenish. Can you take a photo of your plant and email to me at tom@askanaturalist.com?
i have a bunch of trees that look like poison sumac it gets red flowers in the fall and is taking over my back yard just want to know if it is poison my yard is not wet and mostly gravel
Hi Carrie, Thanks for writing. Can you email photos to tom@askanaturalist.com? Red flowers suggests staghorn sumac, not poison sumac. Also, you can count the leaves. Poison sumac has up to 13 leaflets on the compound leaf, 6 pairs and one at the end. Staghorn can have much more than that. Some people report a sensitivity to all sumacs, so it’s a good idea to wear gloves and long clothing if you’re going to remove them. But if you send some good photos of the leaves, I can probably tell you if it’s poison sumac.
Very useful and informative, thank you. I have pics of Giant Hogweed if you’d like them.
Hi Tom, I have read that in Pennsylvania poison oak is not native there. Do I stand corrected? I live in Saylorsburg PA
Hi Barbara, I think you are largely correct. Most of Pennsylvania seems to be missing poison oak. But that may be because it’s covered in poison ivy instead. 🙂
However, poison oak is found in New Jersey and in all the states to the south of Pennsylvania, and of course, plants don’t recognize borders, so it’s a fair bet that you could find poison oak in some parts of the state if you looked hard enough. I did find one range map that shows it in the southeast corner of PA.
https://www.poison-ivy.org/poison-ivy-overview
Also, it’s very hard to tell poison oak from poison ivy. They are closely related and both are highly variable. In fact, on a single plant of either species you can sometimes have smooth leaves that look ivy-like, and other leaves that look oak-like. One of the few easy ways to tell them apart for sure is that poison ivy berries are smooth, and poison oak berries are fuzzy.
Check out the photos at these two pages:
https://duncannonatc.org/doc-poison-ivy-poison-oak-and-poison-sumac/
https://www.poison-ivy.org/atlantic-poison-oak
Tom
Someone above asked what helps get rid of the rash, and I have found that Chickweed Salve is very good for that, you can find it on amazon and it soothes/heals Sumac, Poison Oak, Ivy, Red Ant, and other Insect bites.
A quick tip: Since the irritating urushiol is an oil, cleaning any skin that was touched by the oil with a great degreaser can prevent or at least minimize a reaction. Tecnu is an inexpensive OTC product found in many pharmacies that works well for urushiol (including skunk spray!). BUT it needs /works best to be applied to dry skin before you try to wash with soap and water, so having it on hand ahead of time and reading the directions first can be very helpful. Gunk hand degreaser used by mechanics may also work well. Also, be aware the oils can get on clothes and continue to be irritating whenever touched again (such as when doing laundry).
Is this poison sumac , we have them all up and down our lane
Hi Max,
Can you email photos to tom@askanaturalist.com?
Tom