Toxicodendron vernix (L.) Kuntze
ANACARDIACEAE (Cashew Family)
| Taxonomy |
Toxicodendron vernix (L.) Kuntze
ANACARDIACEAE (Cashew Family)
| |
| Etymology | Toxicodendron means poison tree: toxicarius (Latin) = poisonous + dendron (Greek) = tree; vernix is Latin for varnished. | |
| Synonyms (Common Name) | Poison Dogwood, Poison Elder, Poison Ash, Swamp Sumac | |
| Description | A deciduous, broad-leaved shrub to 8' tall or small tree to 20' tall, poison sumac causes severe skin irritation if touched; many people consider it more painful than poison ivy (T. radicans). All parts of the plant are poisonous. An obligate wetland species, it usually grows in swamps or shrub zones of fens and bogs. | |
| Wetland indicator status | OBL | |
| Plant Height | 8-20 feetshrub to 8 feet; tree to 20 feet | |
| Leaves | Deciduous, alternate, entire, pinnately compound leaves with 7-13 leaflets; to 12" long. Leaflets are obovate or elliptical, with a pointed tip, short-stalked, 2-4" long; dark green above, paler below; red leaf stalks and veins; milky sap; red or yellow in autumn. | |
| Flower/Inflorescence | Male and female flowers on separate plants; tiny, greenish-yellow flowers, in drooping clusters to 8" long, from axils of lower leaves. | |
| Flowering Period | May-July | |
| Fruit | Yellow to whitish berry-like drupes, approx. 3/16" in diameter, in drooping clusters to 8" long, on female plant. | |
| Fruiting Period | September, but persist over the winter. | |
| Habitat | Swamps; low, wet areas; seasonally flooded forested wetlands. | |
| Range | Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas. |