Tree · Anacardiaceae
Smooth sumac
Rhus glabra
Smooth sumac is recorded as native to 47 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,596 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Smooth sumac at a glance
- Native in
- 1,596 counties, across 47 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 12 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Smooth sumac is recorded as native to 47 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,596 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,596 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 61 counties
- Arizona 10 counties
- Arkansas 68 counties
- Colorado 8 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 5 counties
- Georgia 27 counties
- Idaho 7 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 78 counties
- Iowa 12 counties
- Kansas 82 counties
- Kentucky 94 counties
- Louisiana 38 counties
- Maine 8 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 32 counties
- Minnesota 65 counties
- Mississippi 45 counties
- Missouri 114 counties
- Montana 3 counties
- Nebraska 39 counties
- Nevada 2 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New Mexico 13 counties
- New York 31 counties
- North Carolina 57 counties
- North Dakota 8 counties
- Ohio 88 counties
- Oklahoma 38 counties
- Oregon 12 counties
- Pennsylvania 61 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 24 counties
- South Dakota 16 counties
- Tennessee 43 counties
- Texas 41 counties
- Utah 11 counties
- Vermont 3 counties
- Virginia 94 counties
- Washington 15 counties
- West Virginia 44 counties
- Wisconsin 42 counties
- Wyoming 6 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 12 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 5.3 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 135
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Anacardiaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RHGL
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Rhus glabra (PLANTS symbol RHGL).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources