SUMAC
Rhus glabra
COMMON NAMES: Smooth sumac, Indian salt (powder on the berries), scarlet sumac, mountain sumac,
dwarf sumac.
FEATURES: There are several species of sumac, care should be taken in their identification, as some are
poisonous. But this, the blue glabra, may be easily distinguished by the color, acidity of the berries, and
their appearance in cone-shaped bunches. Rhus glabra is a shrub 6–15 feet tall, consisting of many
straggling branches covered with a pale gray bark having occasionally a reddish tint. The leaves are
alternate, consisting of 6–15 lanceolate, acuminate leaflets, shining and green above, whitish beneath,
turning red in the autumn. When the green leaves or limbs are cut or broken, a milky juice exudes. The
flowers are greenish red on spikes, followed by long bunches of hard, red down-covered berries,
extremely sour to the taste, which is due to malate of lime.
They can be found growing in thickets and waste grounds of Canada and the United States, flowering
June to July, the fruit maturing in September and October. The berries should be gathered before the rain
washes away the acid properties that reside in the external, downy efflorescence.
MEDICINAL PARTS: Bark, fruit.
SOLVENTS: Boiling water, alcohol.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Bark is astringent, tonic, antiseptic; berries are refrigerant, diuretic.
USES: Native Americans crushed the fruit to make a refreshing drink, and also dried the berries for winter
use. For application to skin diseases, they made a poultice of the bruised leaves and fruit. Where
conditions of irritated mucous membranes, as in dysentery, scalding of the urinary passage, sumac is
appreciably reliable. The infusion as an injection of the bark (being stronger), and tea taken internally,
will give prompt relief in leukorrhea, rectal conditions, chronic diarrhea, and rectal hemorrhage. Of use
in malaria and all kinds of fevers, canker in the mouth, and as a gargle for sore throat. Sumac is often
combined with slippery elm (Ulmus rubra) and white pine bark (Pinus strobus) for scrofula. The tea is
cleansing to the system, and sumac berries with blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) are most effective in
diabetes. A syrup may be made with the berries by covering them with boiling water, steeping for 1 hour,