Shrub · Anacardiaceae
Skunkbush sumac
Rhus trilobata · includes its varieties and subspecies
Skunkbush sumac is recorded as native to 18 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 399 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Skunkbush sumac at a glance
- Native in
- 399 counties, across 18 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2a PLANTS minimum temperature −53°F
- Mature height
- 4 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −53°F; zone 2a winters bottom out at −50°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Skunkbush sumac is recorded as native to 18 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 399 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 399 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 12 counties
- Arkansas 1 county
- California 36 counties
- Colorado 44 counties
- Idaho 18 counties
- Kansas 8 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Montana 38 counties
- Nebraska 22 counties
- Nevada 5 counties
- New Mexico 26 counties
- North Dakota 18 counties
- Oklahoma 9 counties
- Oregon 5 counties
- South Dakota 23 counties
- Texas 87 counties
- Utah 27 counties
- Wyoming 19 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
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 4 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Vase
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 8 to 20 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 6.5 to 8.2
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −53°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Anacardiaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RHTR
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 trilobata (PLANTS symbol RHTR), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- 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