Poison Sumac is a name that is more likely to be familiar to people living in temperate regions but here in the tropics, where the stronghold of the mango family lies, there lurks a sumac as well. Not poisonous per se, but given the reputation of it’s poisonous cousin Toxicodendron vernix, it is good to keep a lookout, particularly as this plant is commonly planted and seen even in urban areas.
Sumac occurs as a shrub or small tree and does have an attractive spreading form. The leaves are pinnate and hairy and somewhat a little felty.
About David Tng
I am
David Tng, a hedonistic botanizer who pursues plants with a fervour. I chase the opportunity to delve into various aspects of the study of plants. I have spent untold hours staring at mosses and allied plants, taking picture of pollen, culturing orchids in clean cabinets, counting tree rings, monitoring plant flowering times, etc. I am currently engrossed in the study of plant ecology (a grand excuse to see 'anything I can). Sometimes I think of myself as a shadow taxonomist, a sentimental ecologist, and a spiritual environmentalist - but at the very root of it all, a "plant whisperer"!