Sumac: More Than Just Native Lemonade

Although there is some Smooth Sumac in the interior of British Columbia, you are more likely to run into one of its close relatives Poison Ivy or Poison Oak.

Native Lemonade

Makes 81/2 cups

Enhance this lemonade by adding frozen blueberries and green mint.

3 cups dried and crumbled Smooth Sumac flower spikes

8 cups water

          Sugar to taste.

Sumac, Rhus Juice, Quallah: Good Drink

Soaking the unwashed berries in faucet-hot water(never use water from the hot water faucet, however, as it will contain harmful concentrations of lead mercury and other mineral and/or material contaminates from the boiler) releases the acid to make a drink, after being filtered twice to get rid of little, irritating hairs (through cloth then a coffee filter or the like.) The Cherokee Indians called the juice Quallah. The seeds of the sumac have tannic acid in them. Putting the berries in boiling will release the tannic acid. It can make a tea but it can quickly become too bitter to drink. To make an ade, use one to two cup of berries per quart of water. I prefer two cups and less water.  The “bobs” of berries can be cut off and dried for later use.

The Staghorn Sumac and Its Canadian Cousins:

Staghorn Sumac:

Clean berry pulp and/or seeds, when ground add a lemon-like flavour to salads or meat and is used often in Levant cuisine.  They make a purple-coloured spice, which is very handy where there are no lemons. Native Americans also mixed the leaves and berries of the smooth and staghorn sumac to extend their KINNICKINNIK OR TOBACCO MIX.

The leaves of many sumacs yield tannin and leather tanned with sumac is flexible, lightweight, and light in colour.

Oddly, dried sumac wood is fluorescent under long-wave Ultra Violet Light

The staghorn sumac is native to the southern half of Ontario and eastwards to the Maritime provinces. There are other Canadian species, such as the smooth sumac in western Canada, the fragrant sumac in the prairies through to Ontario and the shining sumac in southern Ontario. All put on a grand show in autumn of brilliant hues of orange and yellow that become deep red. The beauty of our native sumacs continues into the winter with clusters of fuzzy bright red berries.

Sumacs look edible and toxic at the same time, and with good reason: They’re in a family that has plants we eat and plants that can make you ill.

Sumac, poison ivy, Brazilian pepper, cashews, mangoes and pistachios are all related. Poison ivy, of course, is a problem. The Brazilian pepper is on the cusp of toxic/non-toxic. Some people mistakenly call the seeds “pink peppercorns” but true “pink peppercorns” come from a Madagascar relative, not the Brazilian Pepper found in the New World. Cashews have a poisonous shell. Pistachios taste good. Many people are allergic to mango. Often they will also be allergic to other plants in the family as well as sumac or the sap of the sumac.

Poison sumac (NOT Western Poison Ivy, Pacific Poison Oak) has white berries, likes to be very wet BUT is not found in Canada. There are some 250 sumac species in the genus. All the berries of the red sumacs are edible. The berries can be used to make a spice, sometimes a tea. Sumacs are found throughout the world, with many species in North America. You’ll find them across all of the United States and Canada except for the far north. Sumacs are a shrub or small tree that can reach from four to 35 feet. The leaves are arranged in a spiral and the flowers are dense spikes, an inch to four inches long, on the end of branches called terminal clusters. The fruits are technically drupes and collectively are called “bobs.”

Poison Ivy, like poison Sumac has green to white berries

Sumac species tend to be regional. However, one species, Rhus glabra,  (Roos GLAY-bra) the “smooth sumac” besides being found in Canada, is found in all contiguous 48 states.

Many of todays mixed blood First Nations peoples now claim the Indians used the shoots of the Rhus glabra in “salads” though botanists say the natives never made “salads” especially not as we know the term.

 In the northeast the staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina, synonym: Rhus hirta) predominates. It’s the largest of the sumacs and the one with the least tart berries.

Sumac turns ruby and maroon in the fall

The fruit of staghorn sumac is one of the most identifiable forming dense conical clusters of small red drupes at the terminal end of the branches

Peeled “Perfumish” Sumac Shoots:

There is another edible part to the sumac: Young shoots, peeled. First year shoots off old stumps are the best, but the spring-time tips of old branches are also edible but not as good. Look at the end of a shoot after you break it off. If you see a pith, an off-white core, it is too old. Break off that part then look again. You want a shoot stem that is all green inside. Then strip off the leaves and peel the shoot. You can eat it raw or cooked. They are very” purfume-ish” and slightly astringent.

As for other uses of the sumac some landscapers remove all but the top branches to create a “crown” effect making it somewhat resemble a small palm tree. All parts of the stag horn sumac, except the roots, can be used as both a natural dye and as a mordant. The seeds contain oil that can be made into candle wax. Even the sap of the POISONOUS WHITE SUMAC makes a black varnish.

Yes, there is one poisonous sumac but you probably won’t ever see it and it really doesn’t look like the rest of the sumacs. It resembles an alder, has white berries that grow out of leaf axils and prefers to live deep in swamps, meaning you will have to wade to find it. You should avoid it though because it is like poison ivy on steroids. It is the most toxic contact plant in North America.

So, to get that straight: The edible sumacs have red berries in cone-shaped clusters at the end of main branches. They have skinny leaves and like dry ground. The poisonous sumac has roundish leaves, pointy on the end, has white fruit that grows out from where a leaf meets the stem, and grows only in very wet places.

Now that you know about the poisonous white sumac, If you’re from the United States of The Americas, also avoid when looking for sumac the Brazilian Pepper which to the unfamiliar eye can look similar in growth pattern to the regular sumac. The edible sumac has terminal clusters of dark red, purse-shaped berries with a fine coating of fuzz (often grey.)  The leaves are skinny, lance shaped. The Brazilian Pepper has long oval leaves and clusters of bright pink/red smooth, hairless berries growing off stems. ©Al (Alex-Alexander) D. Girvan. All Rights reserved.