Rhus aromatica (Fragrant Sumac)
Rhus aromatica (Fragrant Sumac)
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$30 minimum per species for seed.
$30 minimum per species for seed.
Each species requires a minimum of $30 of seed to proceed with checkout.
Pure Live Seed
Pure Live Seed
Seed is provided in Pure Live Seed (PLS) unless otherwise stated.
Pure Live Seed (PLS) refers to the percentage of a seed lot that consists of the desired species and is viable (capable of germination).
Here's why PLS is crucial for native seeds:
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Accurate Planting:
- PLS helps determine the actual number of viable seeds in a given weight or volume of seed.
- This ensures you plant the correct amount of seed to achieve the desired density and success rate.
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Cost-Effectiveness:
- By knowing the PLS, you can avoid overspending on seed that may not germinate.
- This is especially important for native seeds, which can be more expensive than some cultivated varieties.
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Weed Control:
- PLS helps minimize the presence of weed seeds within the seed lot.
- This reduces competition for resources and ensures the successful establishment of the desired native plants.
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Ecological Restoration:
- Using high-quality native seeds with a high PLS is essential for successful ecological restoration projects.
- It helps to re-establish diverse and resilient plant communities that support local wildlife.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
0.01 pounds = 0.16 ounces
- 0.1 pounds = 1.6 ounces
- 0.25 pounds = 4 ounces
- 0.5 pounds = 8 ounces
- 0.75 pounds = 12 ounces
- 1.00 pounds = 16 ounces
Fragrant sumac varies in height and branching habit, so give the species room to express its form. Dry, sunny ground with sand or stone suits it.
For Rhus aromatica, choose full to partial sun and dry soil. Recorded habitats include open wooded bluffs; Rocky upland woods; Rocky barrens; Limestone glades; Sandy savannas; Sand prairies; Dunes. Reported height: 2-8 ft.
Growth habit: upright or low, spreading shrub; long rhizomes often form colonies. Allow space for this growth between neighboring plants over several seasons, rather than spacing only for the size of a young plant.
Plant specifications & ecological relationships
Key growing facts
| Sunlight | Full to partial sun |
|---|---|
| Soil moisture | Dry |
| Height | 2-8 ft |
| Bloom season | Mid-spring |
Show / hide ▾Growing & planting details
| Growth habit | Upright or low, spreading shrub; long rhizomes often form colonies |
|---|---|
| Root form | Rhizomes |
| Soil pH | NC State lists acidic soil conditions; no optimal numeric interval is established. |
| Cultivation hardiness zones | Zones 3a–9b (NC State cultivation guidance) |
| Drought tolerance | Drought tolerance reported by NC State; establishment needs and duration are not specified. |
| Deer browsing | Deer resistance reported by NC State; browsing remains possible. |
Plant identification & seed reference
| Botanical name | Rhus aromatica |
|---|---|
| Other common names | fragrant sumac; Aromatic Sumac; Fragrant Sumac; Lemon Sumac; Polecat Bush; Polecat Sumac; Sumac |
| Plant family | Anacardiaceae |
Plant characteristics
An excellent sumac for home landscapes as it is smaller and is less aggressive than its cousin's staghorn and smooth sumac. This shrub's leaves have a beautiful aroma when crushed thus the name Fragrant Sumac. Like other sumacs, it has magnificent fall red colors!!! It can be a bit aggressive on dryer soils particularity on small landscapes. Fruit provides a needed food source for overwintering songbirds. Naturally, this plant grows in dry sandy conditions such as lack Michigan dunes, dry Black Oak savannas, and dry prairies.
Show / hide ▾Native range & C-value
| Wetland indicator — NWPL 2022 Midwest | UPL |
|---|---|
| C-value — Chicago region, Flora 2017 | 9 |
| Chicago-region native — Flora 2017 | Yes |
| Native range — U.S. states | Alabama; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Nevada; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Vermont; Virginia; West Virginia; Wisconsin; Wyoming |
| County nativity | Not yet verified; occurrence records do not establish nativity. |
Show / hide ▾Plant communities & associates
Other regional plant communities
These plants are named with this species in published vegetation accounts. Each list keeps its community and region; some records describe a shared vegetation type rather than neighboring plants in a measured plot. They are ecological records, not a planting recipe, and may include plants unsuitable for a particular garden.
- Black-oak forest understory (Illinois): Quercus velutina, Zanthoxylum americanum, Cornus racemosa.
- Dry calcareous oak savanna (Upper Midwest and southeastern Ontario): Quercus alba, Quercus muehlenbergii, Carya ovata.
- Dense thickets along draws and seeps (Northern Colorado): Prunus americana.
- Redcedar-savanna understory (Ontario): Juniperus virginiana, Blephilia ciliata, Ptelea trifoliata, Thaspium barbinode.
- Woodland edges around glades (Ozark region, Missouri and northwestern Arkansas): Acer saccharum, Quercus alba.
- Tallgrass prairie and wooded draws (Kansas): Andropogon spp., Sorghastrum nutans, Schizachyrium scoparium, Panicum virgatum, Quercus macrocarpa, Quercus muehlenbergii, Celtis occidentalis, Ulmus americana.
- Redcedar woodland herbs and shrubs (Eastern North America; account synthesis): Juniperus virginiana, Quercus marilandica, Frangula caroliniana, Viburnum rufidulum, Celtis tenuifolia, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, Berchemia scandens, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans, Panicum virgatum, Sporobolus spp., Corydalis flavula, Anemone spp., Arabis hirsuta var. pycnocarpa, Packera obovata, Pellaea wrightiana, Aquilegia canadensis, Carex spp..
Show / hide ▾Pollinators & wildlife
Bees visiting flowers — southern Utah
These bees were collected at this plant’s flowers in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah, during the 2000–2003 survey. Flower collection records do not establish pollen specialization, successful pollination, or occurrence in an Illinois garden.
- Andrena angustitarsata — 2002.
- Andrena chlorura — 2002.
- Andrena cristata — 2002.
- Andrena lupinorum — 2002.
- Andrena medionitens — 2002.
- Andrena milwaukeensis — 2002.
- Andrena w-scripta — 2002.
- Anthophora neglecta — 2003.
- Lasioglossum heterorhinum — 2002.
Caterpillars & other plant-feeding insects
This plant has published caterpillar host records for the butterflies and moths listed below. These are larval feeding relationships, separate from adult nectar visits. The records span a North American literature compilation and do not establish that every insect occurs locally or uses only this plant.
Moths
- Cameraria guttifinitella — Poison Ivy Leafminer
- Stigmella intermedia
Show / hide ▾Frequently asked questions
What are the ideal growing conditions for Fragrant Sumac?
Rhus aromatica performs best in full sun with dry-mesic to dry (sand dunes, bluffs & savannas) conditions. It thrives in authentic regional soil types ranging from sandy loam to well-drained clay loams.
How do I germinate and establish Fragrant Sumac from seed?
Seed of Rhus aromatica has a germination code of C(30). For best results, sow seed in late fall/winter for natural outdoor freeze-thaw stratification, or cold-moist stratify in refrigeration for 30 to 60 days before spring indoor propagation.
Is Fragrant Sumac deer and herbivore resistant?
Yes. Native plants adapted to Midwestern habitats naturally produce protective secondary compounds and fibrous textures that make them highly resistant to deer, rabbits, and other grazing herbivores.
When should I expect Fragrant Sumac to emerge and bloom?
Established plants break dormancy in spring as soil temperatures warm, developing vigorous foliage before blooming in their seasonal window to provide vital nectar when native pollinators need it most.
Show / hide ▾Sources & ecological notes
Southern Utah bee collection records
Carril, O.M., Griswold, T., Haefner, J. & Wilson, J.S. (2018). Wild bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: richness, abundance, and spatio-temporal beta-diversity. Original publisher supplement. The 2018 publication is distributed under a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication; this selection uses the publisher’s original supplement, not the later separately licensed GBIF/IPT distribution. Natural Communities selected exact catalog matches, retained source identifications and grouped flower collection records by bee and year. No pollen-load analysis or species-specific pollination effectiveness is inferred.
Chicago-region assessment: Wilhelm & Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region, via Kenneth Johnson’s Universal FQA dataset (2018). Chicago-region native status is separate from U.S. nativity.
The C-value and Chicago-region native status shown here also agree with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago Region FQA dataset (2017), distributed through the USACE/ERDC fqadata package under CC0.
Flora of the Chicago Region (2017) records this taxon as native in the Chicago region.
The state list describes native botanical distribution. It does not establish county nativity or occurrence, suitability for every site, or the origin of the plants and seeds offered here. An unlisted state is not proof of absence.
Range data: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 4 June 2026 release, accessed 7 September 2026. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. CC BY 3.0; selected and reformatted. Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of these data. This use has no Kew endorsement.
State and county nativity: The state list uses WCVP records marked native, excluding introduced, extinct and doubtful records. County nativity has not yet been verified for this listing. Presence in a county or preserve does not establish nativity there.
Plant communities: USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System (FEIS): Prunus americana; Rhus aromatica. Selected association facts regrouped in original wording; regional scope retained. No source photographs or captions reproduced.
Caterpillar host records: Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025), Lepidoptera of North America, Supplement 1. Contains information from this database made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Natural Communities selected species-level records and screened source qualifications. The complete selection and transformation instructions for this page are available below under the same license.
C-value source: Flora of the Chicago Region (2017), Universal FQA database 80. Matched source taxon: Rhus aromatica. Exact.
Sources checked September 5, 2026. Regional assessments and growing observations apply to their stated settings. Unverified fields are omitted; missing information does not mean an ecological relationship is absent.
- Illinois Wildflowers — John Hilty. Limited botanical facts presented in Natural Communities’ own wording. Source-specific observations retain their stated scope; photographs, original descriptive prose and compiled relationship tables are excluded. Supports: Bloom Season; Height; Opening botanical description; Primary Native Habitats; Root Architecture & Depth; Soil Moisture Range; Spread Habit; Sun Exposure; Sunlight Exposure.
- Universal FQA — Flora-linked Chicago database 80. Taxonomic names, family and regional nativity originally checked against Kenneth Johnson’s Flora-linked database 80 (2018), citing Wilhelm & Rericha (2017). Limited factual identification only; the C-value follows this Flora-linked database wherever an exact or documented synonym match is available. Supports: Alternate Common Names; Botanical Name; Chicago-region native status; Plant Family.
- USACE/ERDC fqadata — Chicago Region FQA 2017. Herman, B., Sliwinski, R. & Whitaker, S. (2017), Chicago Region FQA Calculator; distributed by USACE/ERDC in fqadata under CC0. Values may differ from Flora of the Chicago Region (2017). CC0 dedication. Retained for comparison; the displayed C-value follows Flora database 80.
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. Limited botanical facts presented in Natural Communities’ own wording. Source-specific observations retain their stated scope; photographs, original descriptive prose and compiled relationship tables are excluded. Supports: Alternate Common Names; Deer Resistance; Drought Tolerance; Soil pH Range; USDA Hardiness Zones.
- USACE National Wetland Plant List 2022 — Midwest. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2022 National Wetland Plant List, Midwest region; effective February 13, 2024. Federal data. Supports: Wetland Indicator Status.
Flora rating attribution: Kenneth Johnson (2018), Flora of the Chicago Region UFQA Database, following Gerould Wilhelm and Laura Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Individual rating facts are presented with original commentary; the calculator’s software license is not treated as a license for the underlying Flora publication.
Historical botanical names remain visible where used by the source. These regional accounts supplement the available Chicago Flora evidence.
Reusable research data
{"title":"Natural Communities selected host records for Rhus aromatica","source":"Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025). Lepidoptera of North America, north of Mexico: an annotated list containing geographic ranges and host-plant records. Supplement 1.","source_doi":"https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.160796.suppl1","download":"https://binary.pensoft.net/file/1478226","source_sha256":"250a11ec19c89f81374af3bc632f6897491cbe540edb09ccdaf298dc73bf9472","license":"ODbL-1.0","license_url":"https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/","method":"Complete machine-readable selection and alteration file under ODbL section 4.6(b). In source worksheet UDELep May 2025, select only rows whose column A UDLepID appears in selection. Each selection entry contains [retained source plant names, selected insect IDs]. Create one record per selected ID and retained plant name; these are reported larval hosts. Scientific insect name is the first two whitespace-separated tokens of column H; common name is E; source category is AB. Other source fields are unchanged and are not part of this derived table. No other rows or host pairs are used on this page. Group Butterfly and Skipper categories together, and other categories as moths; retain exotic category labels. Display names are sorted by scientific insect name.","plant":"Rhus aromatica","scope":"Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.","selection":[[["Rhus aromatica"],["202231","211822"]]]}
Plant Shipping & Care
Plant Shipping & Care
We want to ensure that our customers get what they want, a native backyard oasis. To do that, we need to follow a few simple guidelines and give you some information and pointers to make sure you get your plants delivered in a healthy state.
As a reminder, you will receive an email to confirm your pickup or shipping window just before the plants are ready. See Order Fulfillment below for seasonal fulfillment windows.
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Where We Ship
What to Expect When Receiving Your Delivery
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Shipments
- Larger plant shipments will look similar to the picture below with a tray of your plants and a cardboard box to protect them during shipping.
What to Do With Your Plants After Receiving Your Delivery
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- Continue to water daily each morning and possibly again in the afternoon
- No additional fertilizer is needed
Seed Shipping & Care
Seed Shipping & Care
There is a minimum order requirement of $30 for each seed species. Seed ships all year and typically ships within a week of an order being placed.
We have attempted to put together some basic information regarding native seed installation, establishment, and maintenance. We hope you find it helpful. If you need further assistance on native seed establishment, please schedule a free consolation call here.
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