Smooth Sumac: The Fiery Native That’s Turning Heads

This time of year, as you drive along sun-soaked roadsides or hike through the brushy edges of old fields, you might notice a shrub that seems to demand attention. Its tall, upright clusters of fuzzy red fruit catch the sunlight like torches, and its bright green, fern-like leaves give it a tropical vibe — even though it’s right at home in the Mid-Atlantic. Meet Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra), one of the Chesapeake region’s most eye-catching and ecologically valuable native shrubs.

Smooth Sumac is easy to spot once you know what to look for. It grows as a multi-stemmed shrub, often forming dense thickets thanks to its underground rhizomes. Its compound leaves are made up of 11 to 31 sharply pointed leaflets, giving them a feather-like appearance. Unlike its fuzzy-stemmed cousin, Staghorn Sumac, Smooth Sumac has — you guessed it — smooth, hairless stems, a useful detail for identification. But perhaps its most dramatic feature is the cone-shaped cluster of crimson fruits that stand upright at the tips of branches through summer and into winter. These fruit clusters are not just ornamental; they’re an important food source for birds like flickers, robins, and chickadees when pickings get slim later in the year.

Source: https://wordpress.org/photos/photo/9676757b2d/

Smooth Sumac thrives in full sun and dry, well-drained soils, often popping up in places where other shrubs struggle — like roadsides, open meadows, and rocky hillsides. It’s a pioneer species, quick to colonize disturbed ground and help stabilize soil with its spreading roots. For landowners or land managers trying to restore degraded areas, control erosion, or add a native shrub that supports wildlife, Smooth Sumac is an underrated champion.

And while it’s certainly a visual standout, Smooth Sumac has a few scientific tricks up its sleeve. It’s one of the few shrubs in our region that is dioecious, meaning individual plants are either male or female. Only the female plants produce the showy red fruit, but the flowers of both sexes attract a variety of pollinators when they bloom in early summer. The plant also contains tannins and antioxidants and has been used traditionally by Indigenous communities for medicinal teas, natural dyes, and even a refreshing drink made by steeping the sour, citrusy berries — often called “sumac-ade.”

Source: https://www.marklaurence.com/wp/the-new-shrubscape/

Beyond its traditional uses and ecological value, Smooth Sumac is simply a plant with presence. In autumn, its leaves turn a brilliant scarlet, rivaling the showiest of maples and making it a seasonal star in any native planting. It’s a great reminder that beauty and utility often go hand in hand in the natural world.
So, whether you’re looking to support pollinators, provide winter food for wildlife, or just add a splash of fiery color to your landscape, Smooth Sumac is a native worth celebrating. It’s wild, resilient, and yes — it’s definitely poppin’.

If you see something blooming, leafing out, ripening, or otherwise changing in your woods, send us photos (forestsforthebay@gmail.com) to include in next month’s Forests for the Bay newsletter for more phenological fun!