Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina is a species of floweringplant in the family Anacardiaceae, native to eastern North
America. It is primarily found in southeastern Canada, the
northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Appalachian
Mountains, but it is widely cultivated as an ornamental
throughout the temperate world. It is an invasive species in some
parts of the world..
| Common Name: Staghorn sumac |
| Scientific Name: Rhus typhina |
| Other Names: Stag's Horn Sumach, Velvet Sumac |
| Family: Anacardiaceae |
| Range: Origin: Eastern N. America — New Brunswick to the southern Appalachian mountains and west to Iowa.. Garden planting in Britain. |
Physical Characteristics
Mahonia aquifolium is an Perennial is a deciduous Shrub growing to 6 m (19ft) by 6 m (19ft) at a fast rate. It is in flower from June to August, and the seeds ripen from October to December. The species is dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). and is pollinated by Bees. The plant is not self-fertile.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil.
|
| Edible Parts: Flowers, Fruit, oil, shoots |
 Edibility Rating: 4 
|
 Known Hazards: There are some suggestions that the sap of this species can cause a skin rash in susceptible people, but this has not been substantiated.
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Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Staghorn Sumac along with all the Staghorn Sumac containing recipes presented on this site, with 4 recipes in total.
This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.
These recipes, all contain Staghorn Sumac as a major wild food ingredient.
Rhus typhina is a dioecious, deciduous shrub or small tree growing up to 5m tall by 6m broad. It has alternate, pinnately compound leaves 25–55cm long, each with 9–31 serrate leaflets 6–11cm long. Leaf petioles and stems are densely covered in rust-coloured hairs. The velvety texture and the forking pattern of the branches, reminiscent of antlers, have led to the common name "stag's horn sumac". Staghorn sumac grows as female or male clones
Small, greenish-white through yellowish flowers occur in dense terminal panicles, and small, green through reddish drupes occur in dense infructescences. Flowers occur from May through July and fruit ripens from June through September in this species' native range. Staghorn sumac spreads by seeds and rhizomes and forms clones often with the older shoots in the centre and younger shoots around central older ones. Large clones can grow from ortets in several years.
The fruit of sumacs are edible. They can be soaked and washed in cold water, strained, sweetened and made into a pink "lemonade" sometimes called "Indian lemonade". The drink extract can also be used to make jelly. The shoots can be peeled and eaten raw. The fruit was found to have certain natural antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Uses: Fruit - cooked. A very sour flavour, they are used in pies. The fruit is rather small and with very little flesh, but it is produced in quite large clusters and so is easily harvested. When soaked for 10-30 minutes in hot or cold water it makes a very refreshing lemonade-like drink (without any fizz of course). The mixture should not be boiled since this will release tannic acids and make the drink astringent.
The leaf stems, after you've stripped off the leaflets and the new year's shoots after stripping off the leaves and removing the bark (the bark can be bitter) are also edible.
Possible Confusion:
Most guides warm of confusing Staghorn Sumac with Toxicodendron vernicifluum (formerly Rhus verniciflua), Chinese lacquer tree an Asian tree species of genus Toxicodendron native to China and the Indian subcontinent. However, the two species look nothing alike, with R. typina having smooth leaves and T. varnicifluum having toothed leaves. The inflorescences of R. typina are upright, close-clustered and red whilst the inflorescences of T. varnicifluum are rather undistinguished loose panicles of small yellow-green flowers.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants
This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.
These recipes, all contain Staghorn Sumac as a major wild food ingredient.
Rhus typhina is a dioecious, deciduous shrub or small tree growing up to 5m tall by 6m broad. It has alternate, pinnately compound leaves 25–55cm long, each with 9–31 serrate leaflets 6–11cm long. Leaf petioles and stems are densely covered in rust-coloured hairs. The velvety texture and the forking pattern of the branches, reminiscent of antlers, have led to the common name "stag's horn sumac". Staghorn sumac grows as female or male clones
Small, greenish-white through yellowish flowers occur in dense terminal panicles, and small, green through reddish drupes occur in dense infructescences. Flowers occur from May through July and fruit ripens from June through September in this species' native range. Staghorn sumac spreads by seeds and rhizomes and forms clones often with the older shoots in the centre and younger shoots around central older ones. Large clones can grow from ortets in several years.
The fruit of sumacs are edible. They can be soaked and washed in cold water, strained, sweetened and made into a pink "lemonade" sometimes called "Indian lemonade". The drink extract can also be used to make jelly. The shoots can be peeled and eaten raw. The fruit was found to have certain natural antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Uses: Fruit - cooked. A very sour flavour, they are used in pies. The fruit is rather small and with very little flesh, but it is produced in quite large clusters and so is easily harvested. When soaked for 10-30 minutes in hot or cold water it makes a very refreshing lemonade-like drink (without any fizz of course). The mixture should not be boiled since this will release tannic acids and make the drink astringent.
The leaf stems, after you've stripped off the leaflets and the new year's shoots after stripping off the leaves and removing the bark (the bark can be bitter) are also edible.
Possible Confusion:
Most guides warm of confusing Staghorn Sumac with Toxicodendron vernicifluum (formerly Rhus verniciflua), Chinese lacquer tree an Asian tree species of genus Toxicodendron native to China and the Indian subcontinent. However, the two species look nothing alike, with R. typina having smooth leaves and T. varnicifluum having toothed leaves. The inflorescences of R. typina are upright, close-clustered and red whilst the inflorescences of T. varnicifluum are rather undistinguished loose panicles of small yellow-green flowers.
References:
[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants
The alphabetical list of all Staghorn Sumac recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 4 recipes in total:
Page 1 of 1
| Staghorn Sumac Jelly Origin: America | Staghorn Sumac Za'atar Origin: America |
| Staghorn Sumac Lemonade Origin: America | Steamed Staghorn Sumac Shoots Origin: Britain |
Page 1 of 1