The Winged Sumac has multiple leaves on one stem and the stem between leaves is covered with wing-like leaf material.
The berry cluster, which is called a Drupe, is born on the tips of the branches, above the foliage.
The stems that branch off from the woody stem are covered in fuzz much like the velvet on deer antlers.
I am mostly interested in foraging sumac for use medicinally, but I also enjoy using it for culinary purposes. The berry clusters can be used to make a very pretty ruby colored Sumac-ade, since it has a nice citrus-like tang. It is because of this tang that I ran out the door to catch what I could of the sumac before the rain washed off the malic acid. The malic acid gives sumac-ade its signature tang. One of my favorite culinary uses for sumac is Zaatar, a Middle Eastern seasoning used on breads, in hummus and on vegetables. It is made from Smooth sumac, (Rhus glabra), a variety that is indigenous to the Mediterranean, but is grown here in the USA as an ornamental. Zaatar also contains thyme and sesame seeds. The sumac and the thyme are ground together into a fine powder and then the sesame seeds are added whole. My favorite way to use Zaatar is to brush pita bread with garlic infused olive oil and sprinkle a thick layer of Zaatar on top of the oil, I then broil the bread until the Zaatar begins to toast. It is delicious served with hummus and oil cured calamata olives!
Sumac has a long history of use as a medicinal herb. All parts of the plant have medicinal properties. The berries contain Mallic acid, tannic acid and gallic acid. The berries are infused in cold water to use as a gargle for a sore throat or as a swish for mouth sores, (heating the berries brings out an unpleasant bitterness, so it is best to infuse in cold water). The berries have powerful antioxidant properties, can be used to alleviate asthmatic symptoms, lowers blood cholesterol levels, and helps to lower blood glucose levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes. It helps to relieve constipation and has even been used to help with bed wetting. The bark and leaves are also used medicinally. The powdered bark of sumac can be made into an antiseptic salve. An infusion of leave can be used to treat asthma, diarrhea and stomach disorders. A poultice of sumac leaves can be used to treat skin irritations and rashes. In some cases of poisoning, treatment requires induced vomiting, the bark of sumac can be infused into a tea to bring on vomiting.
Sumac is a member of the cashew family, which also includes mangoes and pistachios. If you have allergies to mangoes or cashews do not ingest sumac. There is a plant called poison sumac, that is not a member of the sumac family, but is really a relative of poison ivy. Poison sumac, Toxicondendron vernix, is a skin irritant, leaf, berry or bark, as well as being toxic to ingest. The urushoil in this plant is extremely irritating to the skin, (like poison ivy on steroids...), causing wounds that look like burns with large blisters. But not to worry, it is easy to tell edible sumac from poison "sumac". Edible sumac has red berries presented above the leaves on the tips of the branches, the leaves are on green stems with fuzz, and in some species have serrated edges. Poison sumac has red leaf stems that connect to a green/gray branch, (much like its cousin poison ivy), with sparse white berries that are borne in loose clusters under the leaves. It gets its name because the compound leaflets look similar to true sumac, but the similarities stop there. It is a bog plant and in most circumstances it would not be encountered unless you are wading in swampy water, (which if you are a hard core forager, may actually happen...). It is most prevalent in the deep south and the northern rim of the eastern USA. It is pretty much non-existent in the Piedmont of North Carolina where we live. But in general, I am always cautious to keep my eyes open and watch where I am putting my hands and feet when foraging. I am not only on the look out for toxic plants like poison ivy, (or poison sumac), but for animal and insect activity that can expose me to danger. It would be unfortunate to disturb a well hidden yellow jackets nest or a viper....
When harvesting in the wild, I am very careful not to disturb the plant environment, (I tread softly and look where I am placing my feet), so I don't disturb the natural microcosm where the plants grow. I also only take a small amount of what is growing in a location. I only harvest from wild plants when the plant population will not be affected by what I take. I never take all of what I find, but make sure that I leave plenty of plants to grow and spread for the next year. I also only harvest what I know that I will use. In the case of the sumac, I found several healthy stands growing in various locations in the countryside around our home. I cut only one or two seed heads from each plant, leaving the most mature seed heads to propagate next year's new plants. I found several spots where just one plant had grown up amongst the other hedgerow plants, like sweet gum saplings, pokeweed and honeysuckle,(the seed for this plant was probably fertilized and dropped by an obliging bird and in the future, if left to reproduce undisturbed, would grow into a healthy stand that could tolerate some harvesting). In cases where there was only one plant, I took nothing and went on in search of larger stands. In order to gather enough for my purposes, I visited eight locations and harvested from five mature stands of sumac. It was a lovely quiet time and refreshed my spirit as I reflected on the role of all life in maintaining the balance of nature.
I cut the seed heads in to small sections to insure good air circulation during the drying process.
I placed the seed heads in the new air dehydrator I bought at Prepper Camp and will put the leaves in my Excaliber dehydrator. Having both an air dehydrator and an electric one ensures I can still dry foods, even in a grid down situation.. But for regular use it is just nice to be able to choose which goes where. The Excaliber is a great tool and it runs almost nonstop at my house, but it tends to blow fine herbs and seed heads around too much, and I end up losing some of my harvest, so it is nice to have one that just allows me to air dry the more delicate things I harvest. It was raining outside today so I hung the dryer up in the sitting room to start the seed heads drying. As soon as the weather clears I will hang the dryer out on the front porch in the breeze. It will just take a day or so for the seed heads to dry if there is a breeze.
Once the seed heads and leaves are dried, I will begin the next step in the process, which will be either to store these herbs in mylar with an O2 absorber, or to use them in making herbal medicines. I will grind some of the berries for culinary use, but most of them will be kept whole since they store longer that way. I will tincture a portion of the leaves and the rest will be stored whole as well.
Well I hope that this inspires you to identify your local variety of sumac and try your hand at foraging. It is well worth the effort! Let me know about your foraging adventures or just leave me a comment for the fun of it :) I love hearing from you!
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