Rhus lanceolata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Anacardiaceae
Genus: Rhus
Species:
R. lanceolata
Binomial name
Rhus lanceolata
(A. Gray) Britton
Synonyms[1]
  • Rhus copallinum var. lanceolata A. Gray
  • Schmaltzia lanceolata (A. Gray) Small

Rhus lanceolata, the prairie sumac, is a species of plant native to the south-western United States (Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico), and northern Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas).[2][3][4]

Rhus lanceolata is a shrub or small tree up to 9 m (30 feet) tall, reproducing by means of underground rhizomes. Leaves are pinnately compound with 13-17 lanceolate leaflets and a winged rachis. Leaflets are entire (untoothed) or with small teeth, green and shiny above but whitish and pubescent below. Flowers are born in a panicle up to 14 cm (5.6 inches) tall. Flowers are white to greenish. Fruits are lens-shaped, about 6 mm (0.25 inches) across, dark red and hairy.[5][6][7][8][9]

Uses

Birds eat the fruit during the winter, and deer forage the foliage. The tannin-containing leaves have been used to tan leather.[10]

References

  1. ^ Tropicos
  2. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Rhus lanceolata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. ^ Virginia Tech Plant Data Sheet Archived 2010-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ US Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Digital Representations of Tree Species Range Maps, Rhus lanceolata
  5. ^ Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas i–xv, 1–1881. The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson.
  6. ^ Britton, Nathaniel Lord, & Shafer, John Adolph. 1908. North American Trees 606.
  7. ^ Small, John Kunkel. 1903. Flora of the Southeastern United States. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
  8. ^ Texas Native Plants Database, Aggie horticulture, Texas A&M University
  9. ^ University of Texas, BIO406D, Introduction to the Flora of Central Texas, Michael Gruenstaeudl, Rhus lanceolata
  10. ^ Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. pp. 550–51. ISBN 0-394-50760-6.
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