fragrant sumac
Rhus aromatica · Anacardiaceae
fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) is a perennial shrub in the Anacardiaceae family. It is native to North America. USDA records it as hardy in zone 5 and warmer, down to about -13°F.
At a glance
| Type | shrub USDA |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | perennial USDA |
| Native status | native USDA |
| Mature height | 5 ft USDA |
| Light | full-sun USDA |
| Water need | low USDA |
| Growth rate | slow USDA |
| Soil pH | 5–8 USDA |
| Bloom | April–May USDA |
| Flower color | Yellow USDA |
| Hardiness zones | 5 and warmer USDA |
| Guild layer | shrub Derived |
| Nursery availability | Routinely Available USDA |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
It needs full sun. USDA rates it as having low water needs once established. Its drought tolerance is rated high. It will not tolerate waterlogged soil — USDA rates its anaerobic tolerance as none. It is recorded on soils from pH 5 to 8 — a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 5.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 5 ft, making it roughly waist to chest height. It grows slowly.
Bloom period
USDA records a bloom period of April through May. Flowers are yellow.
A flowering date, not a pollinator rating.
Foliage, flower and season
Summer foliage is green, coarse in texture. Its flowers are not conspicuous — a plant for form and foliage. It carries conspicuous autumn colour. Its fruit or seed heads are conspicuous, extending interest past flowering. Its active growth period is spring and summer. USDA rates its lifespan as long.
What the site needs to provide
USDA records it across sites receiving 16 to 55 inches of annual precipitation. It needs at least 170 frost-free days to finish its season. It roots to at least 24 inches. Fertility requirement: low — no feeding needed on ordinary garden soil.
Propagating it
Propagate it from seed, bare root and container stock. Seed needs cold stratification — a period of moist chilling — before it will germinate, so sow in autumn or chill it artificially before a spring sowing. Its seed spreads at a slow rate. It does not spread vegetatively, so it will stay where you put it.
Resilience and wildlife
Browsing animals rate it barely palatable — the sourced basis for calling it deer-resistant. It can resprout after its top growth is damaged, so it tolerates being cut back hard. Its growth form is recorded as multiple stem.
Role in a guild
Shrub layer. In a layered planting this is woody mid-level structure between the understory and the ground. The layer is derived by a fixed rule from growth habit and mature height.
Tags
Related plants
Others in Rhus
- winged sumac Rhus copallinum
- smooth sumac Rhus glabra
- littleleaf sumac Rhus microphylla
- sugar sumac Rhus ovata
Similar role and hardiness
- basin big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata
- bladder senna Colutea arborescens
- Scotch broom Cytisus scoparius
- woolly beachheather Hudsonia tomentosa
- Japanese holly Ilex crenata
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol RHARS, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
- Quoted from USDA PLANTS: active growth period, Bloom, Bloom end, browse palatability, cold stratification, Drought tolerance, fall conspicuous, fertility requirement, Flower color, flower conspicuous, foliage color, foliage porosity winter, foliage texture, frost free days min, fruit conspicuous, growth form, Growth rate, Hardiness zones, Lifecycle, lifespan, Light, Mature height, Minimum temperature, Native status, Nitrogen fixation, Nursery availability, precipitation max in, precipitation min in, propagation, resprout ability, root depth in, seed spread rate, Soil pH, Soil pH (upper), Tolerance of wet soil, Toxicity, Type, vegetative spread rate, Water need.
- Derived by a fixed rule from those columns: Guild layer.
Read our full data sources and methodology.
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