Sumac
Sumac Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Sumac fruit in the autumn season | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Anacardiaceae |
Subfamily: | Anacardioideae |
Genus: | Rhus L.[1] |
Type species | |
Rhus coriaria | |
Species | |
About 35 species; see text | |
Synonyms[3] | |
List
|
Sumac or sumach Sumac is used as a spice, as a dye, and in medicine.
Description
Sumacs are
Sumacs propagate both by
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of Rhus has a long history, with
Other authors used
Selected species, by continent
Asia, North Africa and southern Europe
- Rhus chinensis Mill. – Chinese sumac
- Rhus coriaria – Sicilian sumac, Tanner's sumac
Australia, Pacific
- Rhus sandwicensis A.Gray – neneleau or Hawaiian sumac (Hawaii)
- Rhus taitensis Guill. (Northeast Australia, Malesia, Micronesia, French Polynesia)
North America
- Rhus aromatica – fragrant sumac
- Rhus copallinum – winged or shining sumac
- Rhus glabra – smooth sumac
- Rhus integrifolia – lemonade sumac
- Rhus kearneyi – Kearney sumac
- Rhus lanceolata – prairie sumac
- Rhus michauxii – Michaux's sumac
- Rhus microphylla – desert sumac, littleleaf sumac
- Rhus ovata – sugar sumac
- Rhus trilobata Nutt. – skunkbush sumac
- Rhus typhina – staghorn sumac
- Rhus virens Lindh. ex A.Gray– evergreen sumac
- †Wehr – Ypresian, Washington
- †Rhus republicensis Flynn, DeVore, & Pigg-Ypresian, Washington
- †Middle Eocene, Oregon
Etymology
The word sumac traces its etymology from Old French sumac (13th century), from Mediaeval Latin sumach, from Arabic summāq (سماق), from Syriac summāqa (ܣܘܡܩܐ)- meaning "red".[10] The generic name Rhus derives from Ancient Greek ῥοῦς (rhous), meaning "sumac", of unknown etymology; the suggestion that it is connected with the verb ῥέω (rheō), "to flow", is now rejected by scholars.[11][12][13]
-
Drupes of a staghorn sumac in Coudersport, Pennsylvania
-
A young branch of staghorn sumac
-
Winged sumac leaves and flowers
-
Rhus hybrid fossil – about 49.5 million years old, Early Ypresian, Klondike Mountain Formation, Washington
-
Iranian sumac
Cultivation and uses
Species including the fragrant sumac (R. aromatica), the littleleaf sumac (R. microphylla), the smooth sumac (R. glabra), and the staghorn sumac (R. typhina) are grown for ornament, either as the wild types or as cultivars.[14][15][16][17]
In food
The dried fruits of some species are ground to produce a tangy, crimson spice popular in many countries.[18][19] Fruits are also used to make a traditional "pink lemonade" beverage by steeping them in water, straining to remove the hairs that may irritate the mouth or throat, sometimes adding sweeteners such as honey or sugar. Sumac's tart flavor comes from high amounts of malic acid.[20]
The fruits (
During medieval times, primarily from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, sumac appeared in cookbooks frequently used by the affluent in Western Europe. One dish in particular called sumāqiyya, a stew made from sumac, was frequently anglicized as "somacchia" by Europeans.[23]
In North America, the smooth sumac (R. glabra), three-leaf sumac (R. trilobata), and staghorn sumac (R. typhina) are sometimes used to make a beverage termed "sumac-ade", "Indian lemonade", or "rhus juice".[citation needed] This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing them to extract the essence, straining the liquid through a cotton cloth, and sweetening it. Native Americans also use the leaves and drupes of these sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.[24][25][26]
Dye and tanning agent
The leaves and bark of most sumac species contain high levels of
The dyeing property of sumac needed to be considered when it was shipped as a fine floury substance in sacks as a light cargo accompanying heavy cargoes such as marble. Sumac was especially dangerous to marble: "When sumac dust settles on white marble, the result is not immediately apparent, but if it once becomes wet, or even damp, it becomes a powerful purple dye, which penetrates the marble to an extraordinary depth."[28]
Sumac-dye (黄櫨染, kōrozen) was used only for the outerwear of the Emperor of Japan, thus being one of the forbidden сolors.[30][31]
Traditional medicinal use
Sumac was used as a treatment for several different ailments in medieval medicine, primarily in Middle Eastern and South Asian countries (where sumac was more readily available than in Europe). An 11th-century shipwreck off the coast of
Other uses
Some beekeepers use dried sumac bobs as a source of fuel for their smokers.[34]
Sumac stems also have a soft pith in the center that is easily removed to make them useful in traditional Native American pipemaking. They were commonly used as pipe stems in the northern United States.[35]
Dried sumac wood fluoresces under long-wave ultraviolet radiation.[36]
Toxicity and control
Some species formerly recognized in Rhus, such as
Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure, since the wood is springy, resulting in jagged, sharp-pointed stumps when mown. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing.
Explanatory notes
- ^ Other spellings include sumak, soumak, and sumaq.
References
- ^ "Rhus L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
- ^ "Rhus L." TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
- ^ "Rhus L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ "Rhus in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ^ "USDA Plants Database". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- doi:10.1086/322948. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ Miller et al 2001.
- ^ Pell 2004.
- ^ Andrés-Hernández & Terrazas 2009.
- ^ "sumac". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
- ^ "Rhus | Definition of Rhus by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Rhus". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022.
- ^ "ῥοῦς - Ancient Greek (LSJ) 👍". lsj.gr.
- ISBN 978-9004171541– via Google Books.
- ^ "Plant Database: Rhus typhina". www.wildflower.org. 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
- ^ "Plant Database: Rhus glabra". www.wildflower.org. 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
- ^ "Plant Database: Rhus aromatica". www.wildflower.org. 2017-11-03. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
- ^ "Plant database: Rhus microphylla". www.wildflower.org. 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
- ^ a b One may use sumac as a tisane or tea substitute by boiling the dried leaves.Sumac - Ingredients - Taste.com.au
- ^ "North American Sumacs You Should Know About". The Spruce. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
- ^ "Comparative Study on the Chemical Composition of Syrian Sumac ( Rhus coriaria L.) and Chinese Sumac ( Rhus typhina L.) Fruits".
- ^ Christine Manfield, Charlie Trotter, Ashley Barber -Spice 2008 - Page 28 "Sumac This reddish ground spice is made from the berries of the sumac bush,"
- ^ Aliza Green Field Guide to Herbs & Spices: How to Identify, Select, and Use ... 2006 - Page 257 "In Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, sumac is cooked with water to a thick sour paste, which is added to meat and vegetable dishes; this method was also common in Roman times. Sumac appears in the middle eastern spice mixture za'atar (page 288) ..."
- )
- ^ "BRIT Native American Ethnobotany Database, Rhus glabra".
- ^ "BRIT Native American Ethnobotany Database, Rhus trilobata".
- ^ "BRIT Native American Ethnobotany Database, Rhus typhina".
- ^ Davis, Charles Thomas [from old catalog (1885). The manufacture of leather: being a description of all of the processes for the tanning, tawing, currying, finishing. The Library of Congress. Philadelphia, H. C. Baird & co.; [etc., etc.]
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Lee, Arthur (1888). Marble and marble workers: a handbook for architects, artists, masons and students. London: Crosby Lockwood & Son. p. 19.
- doi:10.2307/1005932.
- ISBN 9781462903986.
- ISBN 4-13-061000-7.
- ISBN 978-0-89096-947-2.
- .
- ISBN 978-0801485039
- ISBN 978-0803279391
- ISBN 978-1-56158-358-4.
- ^ Ortmann, John; Miles, Katherine L.; Stubbendieck, James H.; Schacht, Walter (1997). "Management of Smooth Sumac on Grasslands". University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help)
Further reading
- Andrés-Hernández, A. R.; Terrazas, Teresa (October 2009). "Leaf architecture of Rhus s.str. (Anacardiaceae)". Feddes Repertorium. 120 (5–6): 293–306. .
- Miller, Allison J.; Young, David A.; Wen, Jun (2001). "Phylogeny and Biogeography of Rhus (Anacardiaceae) Based on ITS Sequence Data". S2CID 85287571.
- Moffett, RO. "A Revision of Southern African Rhus species". FSA (Flora of South Africa) vol 19 (3) Fascicle 1.
- Pell, Susan Katherine (May 2004). Molecular systematics of the cashew family (Anacardiaceae) (PDF) (PhD). Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2010.
- Schmidt, Ernst; Lötter, Mervyn; McCleland, Warren (2002). Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Jacana Media. ISBN 978-1-919777-30-6.
External links
- Media related to Rhus at Wikimedia Commons