How to Identify Winged Sumac - Rhus copallina
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Hey guys in ths video we take a look at the Winged Sumac or Rhus copallina. This is one of three commonly found Sumac species that is edible and very highly rated. This plant is not anything like poison sumac and it looks very different and grows in different habitats. The Winged Sumac is a tree that produces edible berries in the late summer and early fall after it's yellow and white flowers become pollinated. The flowers arrive in the middle of summer and last about 2 to 3 weeks. The leaves of Winged Sumac are composite, consisting of about 11 leaflets, all connected by a wing like structure along the stem. The leaflets are smooth margined and are arranged in an opposite pattern. This tree grows to about 15 to 30 feet in height and loves to grow along the edges of roadsides, clearings, wood lines, and fields so it is easy to spot. The berries are bright to dark red and have little hairs along them that must be washed away before consuming as they are an irritant. This plant is one of three species that can make the very popular Sumac Lemonade.
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Just FYI Josh, poison sumac always has drooping berries. If you even think you might be allergic to it, DON'T TOUCH IT. From what I've read, it's worse than poison ivy.
Yeah, I thought I mentioned that in the video but I guess not. Whoops! It was kinda an off day for me, sorry about that. Thanks for pointing that out though!
@@TrilliumWildEdibles Your welcome Josh. That's too important not to mention it.
I agree. I'll pin your comment so more will see it.
These bloomed in my neighborhood over 3 weeks ago. We have berries already. Thank you, Can't wait to see all I may do with them. I've notived mother nature in a hurry this year.
You're only limited by your creativity really, from Sumac-ade, to using the berries as a spice, to making syrup or jelly with it. The options are limitless!
@@TrilliumWildEdibles it didn't grow where I lived in the past. To me it's new. Thank you
You're very welcome and I'm glad to be of some help!
I have a bunch of winged sumac growing where i had previously cleared a forest to build on. They are growing near my solar array. I almost thought it was poison sumac, but couldn't find a match with the skinny leaf looking things on the marystem and hairy on the stems. Your video finally helped me identify them. I think i will let them grow so i can try the berries. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful for you! Unless you're standing in water in a swamp you're most likely not looking at poison Sumac.
With winged Sumac keep in mind they don't produce berries as much as Staghorn Sumac does so you may not see any.
I just love this guy, super helpful.
Thank very much, I'm glad to be of some help!
Thanks so much.....I'm overrun with both Stag Horn and Winged Sumacs here....but the deer and birds love them. I was getting a bit concerned about their proliferation but I'll just keep them in check by mowing.
Good video information , thanks for sharing , God bless !
You're awesome bud! Love what you're doing here! All of your videos are very interesting, fun, and informative! ✌
Thanks bub, glad you enjoy them!
Can you, or do you know of anyone who can recommend a good quality plant ID app for phones?
Hey Josh since you are one of the best identifiers and describers of plants could you do a video on Poison Sumac? And please give us detailed information and maybe even a comparison of it to the common sumac? I always have a hard time identifying which one is the poison one and a few years ago I got loads of that stuff on me when I went fishing and it sent me to the clinic because of it. I ask for this favor because there are very few videos on UA-cam that do a feature on Poison Sumac and the ones that I've seen do a terrible job at describing it and showing close-up shots of it. Thanks in advance if you could do this video for me and others, we truly appreciate it!
I would love to but thankfully and unfortunately, it doesn't really grow in my state. The few places it's been reported are about 2 hours from me and even in those areas it's still considered very rare in my state. So I don't see a video happening in the near future, sorry.
@@TrilliumWildEdibles No problem Josh. Thanks for the response any way. You never know you just might travel to another state some day.
Awesome video, I always learn something from you Josh, stay safe my friend, 👍🍺🍺🇺🇸
Glad you enjoyed it Ron! Always love having you in the comments! Hope all is well with you and yours.
I had no idea that this was edible. Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Literally just saw this for the first time today lol, perfect timing. I was questioning which one of the sumacs that you mentioned, I knew it wasn't staghorn tho.
Awesome to hear the timing was perfect for you!
Great info as usual
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!
Interesting, the dried sumac fruit is used as a spice in Turkey, don't know which species of it though. It has a nice, sour taste.
Oh definitely, it's popular all over the Middle East. The main species used appears to be, by my very quick Google search, Rhus coriaria. I did see a few mentions of other species being popular over there for spice but the main one is coriaria. Here in North America, the Smooth Sumac and Staghorn Sumac are the most popular and are used similarly. It is very delicious and generally makes a delicious lemonade like drink too.
I have trees in backyard with red clusters. Thought cashew same as sumac? Great to see you back.
They are in the same family to my knowledge. It's great to be back and as always, nice to see you in the comments!
@@TrilliumWildEdibles Good to know. Ever to Fern Cliff Nature Preserve. Lots of things in bloom now. Keep it up.
No not yet. It's on my list of places to go since you mentioned it a week or so ago.
My personal favorite
Great video
Thank you!
THANKU. DO YOU EAT OR COOK THE FLOWERS?
I'm not aware of any uses for the flowers. The main parts used for food are the berries, and for medicine, the root and bark can also be used.
Hope this helps some and it's always nice to have you in the comments!
Thank you
Do you have a video showing the difference between real grape and false grape? Thanks.
I did a video a few years ago that showed Canada Moonseed, a plant that oftentimes gets confused with wild grapes. It was in one of my poisonous plants videos. Can't remember which one exactly off the top of my head though but you should be able to find it on my channel.
@@TrilliumWildEdibles thank you!
Armenians use sumac as a condiment on certain fods like Dolmas. It has a sour taste to the berries which are ground up into a coarse powder.
Yep, Sumac is popular all over the Middle East and it is very delicious. I'll have to try Dolmas sometime, it's always good to try new foods.
What part of Indiana? I'm a fellow Hoosier as well. I'm close to the Ohio River. I know there are sumac growing around here but I've never seen the winged. I'm not sure what the ones we have are exactly. Just always called a sumac.
Hey fellow Hoosier! I'm in Central Indiana near Bloomington.
They're most likely Staghorn Sumac and/or Smooth Sumac. We have all three here in the state. Thankfully for us, Poison Sumac is very rare except in the NE part of the state in the swampland areas. Hope this helps some and it's always nice to see another Hoosier here!
Hoosier hello.
@@TrilliumWildEdibles ya I'm down by Louisville
I just discovered this in the woods I found a baby one and brought it home.
Thank you, I have several of these along my driveway and thought they were poison
You're very welcome! A lot of people make that mistake but at least it's a safe mistake!
Help with rating
I grow these I love them I use them
Awesome to hear! They are very delicious and the leaves are beautiful in the fall when they get red.
The birds strip off those flowers and berries in no time. I've never actually seen a red berry on ours.. just bare tips.
Yeah the birds do seem to love winged sumac. The ones I had at another place I lived always got eaten before I could use them. I've had better luck in the wild with finding the berries but it still can be difficult to find them ready to harvest.
Poison sumac is plentiful in Vermont
Yeah in some states it's prolific but In others it's not. It seems to be more common in the southern US. In my state you're likely to never run across it, even in the small region it can be found. Stay safe put there friend!
I love eating this