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skunkbush sumac

Rhus trilobata

Summary 7

Rhus trilobata, commonly known as skunkbush, three-leaf sumac, sourberry, and squawbush, is a shrub that is known for producing a very strong odor when the leaves are crushed. The plant can be found throughout North America and grows in both deserts and mountainous areas up to 7,000 feet in elevation.

Botanical Information 8

Three leaf sumac is a deciduous shrub in the Anacardiaceae family that includes more well-known members such as cashew, mango, and poison ivy. Its genus, Rhus , includes other species also known as sumacs, and its species, trilobata indicates the compound leaf form made up of three leaflets. It is deciduous which means that it drops its leaves in the winter and then grows them back in the spring. It is perennial meaning it grows back year after year. This shrub can grow up to 3 meters tall. The yellowish flowers appear in custers before the leaves in the spring. The fruits are 5-7 mm wide and appear red when they are fully ripe with short, glandular hairs.

Ecological Information 9

Three-leaf sumac grows throughout the western parts of the US from Canada down to Baja California. It can be found in the Rio Grande Bosque growing in sunny or semi-shaded areas. The foliage is a bright green during the summer and turns to a red-orange is the fall. It grows well in disturbed areas. The fruits are sticky and provide food for many wildlife including porcupines, songbirds, quail, deer, and rabbits.

Ethnobotanical Information 10

Three-leaf sumac has many medicinal, edible, and other uses. The fruits are edible fresh and the Acoma people were reported to eat them as an appetizer. The Apache would dry and ground the fruits to be mixed with water and sugar to make jam. The Cheyenne used the plant to protect their hands when removing meat from a boiling pot. They also made a decoction of the leaves and drank it as a diuretic. The stems of the three-leaf sumac were utilized by the Havasupai as an important basketry material. (Note: Ethnographic reports often lack important contextual information and relevant traditional ecological knowledge.) Perhaps one of the more common uses that give it the name "lemonade berry" is crushing the fruits and infusing them in water to be enjoyed as a lemonade-like beverage.

References 9

Bosque Field Guide
Cartron, Lightfoot, Mygatt, Brantley, Lowrey. (2008). A Field Guide to the Plants and Animals of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque. (p. 52). New Mexico, University of New Mexico Press.

Native American Ethnobotany Database. (2021, 09 08). Rhus trilobata.
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/species/3352/

Santa Fe Botanical Garden. (2021, 09 08). MARCH: Three-leaf sumac. https://santafebotanicalgarden.org/march-2016/

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, 09 08) Anacardiaceae. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacardiaceae

About the Author 10

Student author(s)*: Ariana (age 12) and Yazmin (age 13) from South Valley Academy

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting. https://yerbamansaproject.org/

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) J. N. Stuart, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartwildlife/2760983096/
  2. (c) Andrey Zharkikh, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/7181910902/
  3. (c) sedges_have_edges, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/sedges_have_edges/4045209439/
  4. (c) Leah Grunzke, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/occidentalbotanist/5170710596/
  5. (c) Andrey Zharkikh, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/7181912086/
  6. (c) Andrey Zharkikh, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/7185935834/
  7. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) kristen_himm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
  8. Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) kristen_himm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
  9. Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
  10. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

iNat Map

Color yellow
Berry red
Uses edible
Type Shrub
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