Talk:Rhus glabra

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According to Seeds of woody plants in the United States, the fruit of Rhus glabra ripens in September to October. The fruit of Rhus typhina ripens from June to September. The photographs in the article are of fruit ripening in June, therefore, the plants must be Rhus typhina, not Rhus Glabra.

Accordingly, the article is in need of an "UNSOURCED" tag.Velocicaptor 02:00, 13 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Published by the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service division, Handbook No. 450 contains explanations which caused me to delete my editions of June 10th to June 12th, 2007. Velocicaptor 11:11, 13 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Rhus typhina (or staghorn sumac) is ripening, now, in June. I may place some photographs into the Rhus typhina article. I am avoiding any Rhus glabra edits. I have learned my lesson.

I reverted the Rhus glabra page to an April 26th, 2007, version. Velocicaptor 11:45, 13 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It seemed rather a bad idea to suggest that Smooth sumac is unlikely to be confused with other plants, particularly since it is actually easily confused with 'poison' sumac, and may be found in mixed populations of glabra / vernix / typhina. In the absence of flowers or fruit (which will not be present on young plants) it can be impossible for a layperson to distinguish smooth sumac from poison sumac without approaching close enough for an allergic reaction to be triggered in those sensitive to poison sumac. (The volatile oil which causes allergic reactions to poison sumac can easily spread to neighbouring plants in underbrush and edge conditions where sumacs are often found, due to the movement of humans, other animals, or even wind through thickets, and thus direct contact with an actual poison sumac plant is not always necessary for allergic reactions to occur.) the Jack (not logged in)69.183.244.54 12:02, 23 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

American Mountain-ash and Smooth Sumac have extremely similar leaves. In fact, they are so similar that if you look at the good pics at http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/rhgl.htm and compare with http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/soam3.htm it is very hard to tell the difference. Even if you are holding an actual leaf in your hand, you can't tell which it is! Please add pictures and text to each article to help readers distinguish between these two. http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/pages/invasive-plants.htm is a helpful resource, with great pics, but only addresses Smooth Sumac, not American Mountain-ash.

Also, the bark of these shrubs/trees seems to change greatly as the plants mature; please add pictures of the plants over a range of ages, with close-ups of the bark variations. -74.75.213.191 (talk) 20:53, 21 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

These species are visually very similar and can reliably be told apart through the presence of trichomes on staghorns. Im not sure why anyone would boldly proclaim that smooth sumac is one of the easiest plants to identify when it is extremely visually similar to the far more common staghorn sumac. Here is an identification guide https://bplant.org/compare/1227-1228 Gunko7 (talk) 15:24, 21 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It can also be mistaken for poison sumac, tree of heaven, black walnut, mountain ash, etc. so I just took out the "easy to identify" line Gunko7 (talk) 15:51, 23 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Ive been told amerindians STILL smoke it today, funny that archeological evidence was "needed" instead of just asking them! Apparently the young leaves are smooth and earthy. 90.247.229.178 (talk) 06:34, 18 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]