Edible vs. Poison Sumac — Learn The Difference

[Music] greetings everyone I'm Adam Harrison in this video I am going to teach you a useful skill how to differentiate between true sumax and poison sumac why is this a useful skill well if you are interested in foraging a true sumac species and eating its shoots or using the fruits as a spice or using the fruits to make a lemonade like beverage then you'll definitely want to know how to positively identify these plants true sumacs are related to but different than poison sumac poison sumac is a toxic plant that contains the same irritating compound that poison ivy contains just like you don't want to handle poison ivy or eat its fruits you don't want to handle poison sumac and you definitely do not want to eat its fruits now I'll tell you up front many of you watching this video will encounter a true sumac species much more frequently than you will encounter poison sumac it's not that poison sumac is rare it's just that its habitat requirements are pretty specific and a lot of us just don't spend time in areas where poison sumac grows having said that it's still a great idea to know what poison sumac looks like just in case you come across the plant on any of your Outdoor Adventures so first let's talk about true sumax [Music] foreign [Music] belonged to a Genus called ruse and here in North America there are several species in the ruse genus four of the most common include Staghorn sumac smooth sumac winged or shining sumac and fragrance sumac all four of these species are Woody plants all four have compound leaves made up of several leaflets all four grow in Disturbed or early successional habitats with well-drained often dry soils all four produce yellow to yellowish green flowers the Autumn foliage of all four species is red to orangish red and all four of these sumacs produce red non-toxic fruits that have glandular hairs if you are unsure whether or not your plant is a true sumac it's best to observe it when it's fruiting ripe fruits are red and the fruits are generally ripe early summer through late summer depending on the species and depending on the location so now that we know what true sumax look like let's turn our attention toward poison Suman [Music] poison sumac is closely related to true sumacs and in fact poison sumac was formerly placed in the ruse genus currently poison sumac is in the toxicodendron genus which is the genus that poison ivy and poison oak belong to poison sumac is shrubby and sometimes it looks like a small tree it has compound leaves made up of several glossy leaflets in early summer poison sumac produces yellowish green flowers the Autumn foliage is red to orangish red in the next two features fruit and habitat are the two features that will really help you positively identify poison sumac immature poison sumac fruits are green then they ripe into a creamy white color they do not turn red these fruits are smooth and waxy and they often hang down in grape-like clusters regarding habitat poison sumac loves water so you will often find it growing in swamps and marshes and along lakes and ponds now you don't want to eat or handle poison sumac because it contains the same irritating compound that poison ivy contains and that compound is urushiol the rashes and blisters that humans get after coming into contact with yurushio are caused by the body's immune system mounting a defensive attack initiated by the presence of this compound in the body symptoms don't manifest for at least 12 to 48 hours after exposure but they can last for many days and even weeks not everyone is susceptible to these rashes but my recommendation is to not handle or eat or burn any part of this plant I've never touched poison sumac so I've never gotten a rash from this plant but it's reported that the body's reaction to poison sumac is much more severe than it is to poison ivy and a couple of my friends can attest to this as I said earlier most of us will encounter a true sumac species much more frequently than we will encounter poison sumac and I know it sounds kind of strange but I actually consider it a pretty good day when I encounter poison sumac because I don't see the plant too often and when I do it usually means I'm in a pretty special place but if you encounter a sumac like plant and you're wondering is it a true sumac or is it poison sumac remember the most obvious differences fruit and habitat the fruits of the four sumacs we covered are red at maturity and they have glandular hairs the fruits of poison sumac are smooth waxy and creamy white atmaturity the four true sumacs that we discussed typically grow in early successional open sunny and often dry habitats like Old Fields roadsides Glades sand prairies and dunes and railroad rights of way this isn't to say that true sumax won't grow near water they will but they're not strong indicators of wetlands poison sumac is it likes water and it often grows in Mucky or PD soil in or near wetlands now just because true sumacs produce edible fruits that can be used as a spice or turned into a lemonade like beverage that doesn't mean that everyone can handle and work with true sumacs without experiencing negative reactions true sumex belong to the same family that poisoned sumac belongs to the cashew family or the anacardiacia family and the cashew family contains several edible members that some humans are allergic to like mangoes and pistachios so if you have any allergies to edible members of the cashew family you might want to proceed with caution when attempting to work with true sumac species my favorite thing to do with a true sumac like Staghorn sumac is to make a lemonade like beverage that people call sumac Aid and because there are tens of thousands of videos and recipes online teaching you how to make sumac Aid I won't cover the details in this video instead I will encourage you to spend some time visiting and getting to know the wild members of the anacardiac family which include but aren't limited to the true sumex and poison sumac the more you learn the more comfortable you will feel maneuvering through Wild Spaces and working with the many plant foods and medicines that these Wild Spaces offer so that's all I got for you today thank you so much for watching this video I appreciate it if you enjoyed the video I encourage you to subscribe to the learn your land YouTube channel and to head on over to learn your land.com and sign up for the email newsletter so that we can stay in touch thanks again for watching I will see you on the next video answers

Channel: Learn Your Land

Views: 63,766

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Id: 4SsAaoMYoCA

Length: 7min 10sec (430 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 28 2023