Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
Introductory
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo 1992. Rhus copallinum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/rhucop/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
RHUCOP
SYNONYMS :
Rhus copallina L.
SCS PLANT CODE :
RHCO
COMMON NAMES :
winged sumac
black sumac
dwarf sumac
flameleaf sumac
mountain sumac
prairie sumac
shiny sumac
southern sumac
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for winged sumac is Rhus
copallinum L. [43]. There are 3 varieties [3,40]:
Rhus copallinum var. copallinum
Rhus copallinum var. leucantha
Rhus copallinum var. latifolia
This review focuses on R. copallinum var. copallinum, the typical
variety.
LIFE FORM :
Shrub-tree
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Winged sumac's range extends from southwestern Maine, south along the
Coastal Plain to southeastern Florida and west to eastern Texas. Inland
it occurs from central Michigan and central Wisconsin to southeastern
Iowa, extreme southeastern Kansas, and Oklahoma [11,12,15,20].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
STATES :
AL AR CT DE FL GA IL IN IA KS
KY LA ME MD MA MI MS MO NH NJ
NY NC OH OK PA RI SC TN TX VT
VA WV
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K089 Black Belt
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
40 Post oak - blackjack oak
64 Sassafras - persimmon
69 Sand pine
70 Longleaf pine
71 Longleaf pine - scrub oak
72 Southern scrub oak
79 Virginia pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
101 Baldcypress
102 Baldcypress - tupelo
109 Hawthorn
110 Black oak
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Winged sumac is found in many plant associations but is not an
indicator of any particular habitat [35].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Winged sumac is considered a poor to moderately important browse for
white-tailed deer [5,18]. In the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, the twigs
are browsed extensively by white-tailed deer during the winter months
when other more desirable browse is scarce [29]. Mature berries of
winged sumac are eaten by grouse, wild turkey, and songbirds [20,
37]. The bark and twigs are eaten by rabbits, especially during the
winter months [11].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
The seeds and fruits of winged sumac are generally low in crude
protein, crude fat, and calcium but high in tannin [29].
COVER VALUE :
The thickets of winged sumac provide environmental protection for a
variety of birds and mammals throughout its range [9,21].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Winged sumac is tolerant to drought conditions. In a study conducted
on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in Tennessee, winged sumac
showed the greatest and most consistent increase of any shrub during
the drought of 1987 [17].
Winged sumac can be propagated by seed or by root cuttings [40].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
The bark and leaves of winged sumac contain tannin and are used in
the tanning industry. The crushed fruit of this species was added to
drinking water by Native Americans to make it more palatable [40].
Because of the attractive colorful features of the leaves and flowers,
winged sumac is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental [15,19].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Winged sumac often competes with pine and other hardwoods [4].
Streamline basal application of the herbicide Garlon 4 has been reported
as having a greater than 80 percent average control of winged sumac
in northern Georgia and eastern Alabama [28].
Winged sumac is sensitive to ozone damage [16,34].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Winged sumac is a deciduous, fast-growing, short-lived, clonal shrub
to small tree reaching heights of 20 to 30 feet (6-10 m) [11,15]. In
the open, the plant has an irregular, bushy crown with long slender,
alternate leaves on the branches. The dioecious flowers are borne in
panicles clustered at the end of the branches. The red fruit is a small
drupe containing a single nutlet. The fruits form dense clusters and
remain on the plant through the winter [3,11,30].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Winged sumac regenerates vegetatively by sprouting from the roots and
root crown [1,12]. It also regenerates sexually, but details have not
been described [15,32]. The seeds are dispersed by animals [8,35].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Winged sumac can be found in open woodlands, fields, and along fence
rows but grows best on low bottomlands with well-drained, neutral to
slightly acidic soils [10,11,12,42]. It can also be found on poorly
drained soils, but its growth there is very slow.
Common associates of winged sumac include sweetgum (Liquidambar
styraciflua), American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), persimmon
(Diospyros virginiana), redbay (Persea borbonia), dwarf huckleberry
(Gaylussacia dumosa), wax-myrtle (Myrica cerifera), fetterbush (Lyonia
lucida), blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), and titi (Cyrilla racemiflora)
[2,10,22].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Winged sumac is an early-pioneer species that grows best in full
sunlight [36]. It is considered a fire climax species that rapidly
declines 3 to 4 years following fire [6,41].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Winged sumac shows its most pronounced growth between April and May.
It flowers between July and August. The fruit ripens during September
and October, and persists through the winter [3,40].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Winged sumac is well adapted to fire. Fire enhances germination of
the plant by scarifying the seed [1,32]. Following top-kill by fire,
winged sumac will sprout from the root crown [38]. Birds and mammals
may transport some seed to burned sites.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
survivor species; on-site surviving root crown or caudex
off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2
secondary colonizer; on-site germinating seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Fire generally kills aboveground portions of the plant.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Fire stimulates root and root collar sprouting of winged sumac when
aboveground portions are killed [38]. Winged sumac shows dramatic
increases in stem production following fire [23,26,31]. The plant
increased from 50 to 88 percent of the total plant density on annual
burned plots in an oak forest in eastern Tennessee [7].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Fire exclusion greatly reduces density and cover of winged sumac
[6,38].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Rhus copallinum
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