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Sumac Gets a Bad Rap

"Poison" Sumac, not all that common, is not a member of the Sumac family. It is recognizable by its reddish stems.
Rusty Clark/Flickr

  Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Sumac has a bad rap as there is one plant with that name that causes a terrible rash. It’s been moved from the genus Rhus and is now called Toxicodendron vernix. Many people freak out whenever you speak identify a plant they’re examining as sumac -- they think it’s going to give them a horrible rash. The facts are that , poison sumac has more usushiol than either poison oak or poison ivy does. If you are walking under these leaves and if starts to rain, you might even get a rash from the dripping water. However, poison sumac grows in wet areas only, it is not widespread – mostly because we’ve drained so many of our wetlands, and it’s easily identified as it has a red stem from which the leaflets arise. The fruits are white and they hang down loosely instead of being in a compact rust colored structure.

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.