Shining sumac is found growing naturally west to the San Antonio River. It is more commonly a shrub than a tree and grows in clumps and thickets around the edges of the fields and in other open places. The leaves turn crimson in the fall and add a vivid note to the autumn coloring. The tree spreads by means of shallow root-runners.
The [BARK] is almost smooth, with horizontal splashes of light and dark gray, and many small excrescences. This papery outer bark cracks at irregular intervals, exposing spots of reddish-brown beneath.
SHINING SUMAC (Leaf and [fruit] one-half natural size)
The [compound] LEAVES are [alternate], 6 to 8 inches long, with 9 to 21 small ovate-lanceolate [leaflets], glossy green above, [downy] beneath. This sumac is easily distinguished from others by the fact that the leaf [rachis] is winged. The leaves are rich in tannin, and are used in large quantities for curing leather, and for the manufacture of dyes.
The tiny, pale green FLOWERS are borne in compact [conical], [panicles] in July. Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees. The small [FRUIT] is red, covered with short hairs, and has an acid taste. The fruits cling, and are eaten by birds in late winter.
The reddish-brown WOOD is soft, light, and coarse-grained.
PRAIRIE SUMAC (R. lanceolata [A. Gray] Britton) is found on the prairies of eastern Texas to the valley of the Rio Grande, often forming thickets on the banks of small streams. This species is distinguished by its narrow, [acute] [leaflets] and its larger flowers and [fruit].
POISON-SUMAC
Toxicodendron vernix (L.) Kountze
All parts of this beautiful plant give off toxic oils that may irritate and blister the skin like the oils of poison ivy. Poison-sumac may grow as a shrub with several clustered stems, or as a tree occasionally 25 feet high with a trunk 5 to 6 inches in diameter. The slender, smooth branchlets are at first reddish-brown with orange-colored [lenticels], later becoming light gray and marked with elevated and conspicuous [leaf-scars].