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 Sumac fruit in fall
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About 250 species; see text |
Sumac (pronounced /ˈʃuːmæk/ or /ˈs(j)uːmæk/; also spelled sumach) is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. The dried berries of some species are ground to produce a tangy purple spice often used in juice.[1] [2]
Sumacs grow in subtropical and warm temperate regions throughout the world, especially in North America.
Sumacs are shrubs and small trees that can reach a height of 1-10 meters. The leaves are spirally arranged; they are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes 5-30 cm long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits form dense clusters of reddish drupes called sumac bobs.
Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new sprouts from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies.
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Cultivation and uses
The drupes of the genus Rhus are ground into a deep-red or purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to salads or meat. In Turkish cuisine, for example, it is added to salad-servings of kebabs and lahmacun. In North America, the smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and the staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) are sometimes used to make a beverage termed "sumac-ade," "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing them to extract the essence, straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Native Americans also used the leaves and berries of the smooth and staghorn sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.
Species including the fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), the littleleaf sumac (R. microphylla), the skunkbush sumac (R. trilobata), the smooth sumac and the staghorn sumac are grown for ornament, either as the wild types or as cultivars.
The leaves of certain sumacs yield tannin (mostly pyrogallol), a substance used in vegetable tanning. Leather tanned with sumac is flexible, light in weight, and light in color, even bordering on being white.
Dried sumac wood is fluorescent under long-wave UV light.[3]
Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure as the wood is springy resulting in jagged, sharp pointed stumps when mowed. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing. See Nebraska Extension Service publication G97-1319 for suggestions as to control.
Taxonomy
At times Rhus has held over 250 species. Recent molecular phylogeny research suggests breaking Rhus sensu lata into Actinocheita, Baronia, Cotinus, Malosma, Searsia, Toxicodendron, and Rhus sensu stricta. If this is done, about 35 species would remain in Rhus. However, the data is not yet clear enough to settle the proper placement of all species into these genera.[4][5]
Selected species
Rhus sp. nov. A is a so-far unpublished species, endemic to Yemen. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and rocky areas. It was given the status of "vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List.[6]
See also
References
Notes
- ^ Sumac - Ingredients - Taste.com.au
- ^ Poison Sumach and Good Sumac Shrubs
- ^ Center for Wood Anatomy Research. "Rhus spp. Family Anacardiaceae" (PDF). technology transfer fact sheet. USDA Forest service. Retrieved on 07-14, 2008.
- ^ Allison J. Miller, David A. Young, and Jun Wen (2001). "Phylogeny and Biogeography of Rhus (Anacardiaceae) Based on ITS Sequence Data". International Journal of Plant Sciences 162: 1401–1407. doi:.
- ^ Pell, Susan Katherine (2004-02-18). "Molecular Systematics of the Cashew Family (Anacardiaceae) (PhD dissertation at Louisiana State University)"., pages 103-108
- ^ Miller, A. 2004. Rhus sp. nov. A. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 August 2007.
Bibliography
- RO Moffett. A Revision of Southern African Rhus species FSA (Flora of South Africa) vol 19 (3) Fascicle 1.
- Schmidt, E., Lotter, M., & McCleland, W. (2002). Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Jacana. ISBN 1-919777-30-X.
External links
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- This page was last modified on 26 September 2008, at 19:13.
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