Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Toxicodendron vernix
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Poison Sumac at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Toxicodendron vernix
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Toxicodendron vernix
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Toxicodendron vernix
SYNONYMOUS WITH Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Toxicodendron vernix
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-001:
Rhus vernix FAMILY Anacardiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Toxicodendron vernix
COMMON NAME:
Poison Sumac, Thunderwood
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_696
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_tove_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_tove_004_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm190520_8547
May Greenville County SC
Flowers in branched elongate spreading to arching sprays from leaf axils, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm190520_8548
May Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm160624_100
June Greenville County SC
Leaf stalks and young twigs nearly always reddish, per Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995).
)
JK Marlow jkm160624_104
June Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm160707_226
July Spartanburg County SC
Chinquapin Greenway
)
JK Marlow jkm160707_226b
July Spartanburg County SC
Chinquapin Greenway
Leaves with 7-13 elliptic, oblong or oblanceolate, entire leaflets, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
leaves of Sumac and Tree-of-heaven
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_t_vernix_poisonsumac
July
)
JK Marlow jkm091017_110
October Sumter County SC
Manchester State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm091017_113
October Sumter County SC
Manchester State Forest
Fruits glabrous, light-colored to almost white, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
JK Marlow jkm091017_114
October Sumter County SC
Manchester State Forest
Flowers and fruit axillary (vs. terminal in non-poisonous Rhus species), per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
JK Marlow jkm201022_7896
October Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm231019_6108
October Greenville County SC
)
Will Stuart wil_10414900785
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
Will Stuart wil_10415134543
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
Will Stuart wil_10450293683
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
The leaves turn a very attractive shade of orange-red in autumn, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
)
Will Stuart wil_10492821633
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Even on this young plant, leaves are easily 30cm long and leaflets 6cm long. — Will Stuart
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmtvernix_sb1
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Toxicodendron vernix
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Toxicodendron vernix
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Toxicodendron vernix
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Toxicodendron vernix
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Toxicodendron vernix
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 110-01-001:
Rhus vernix
FAMILY
Anacardiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Toxicodendron vernix
1242
Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Habitat: In peaty habitats, in the Coastal Plain frequent in streamhead pocosins and sandhill seepage bogs, in the mountains in bogs, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon in Coastal Plain, rare in Piedmont & Mountains
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: 7-13 leaflets
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish-yellow/White
4-5 sepals
4-5 petals
4-5 stamens
Usually bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
White/Gray
Drupe
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p296
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p220
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p277
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p164
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p085
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p068
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p320
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p081
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p117
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p139
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p11
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p352
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p197
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