I see winged sumac daily, growing in disturbed areas and as a component of natural and informal landscapes. It is also known as shining sumac, dwarf sumac, black sumac, and flameleaf sumac. With scientific name Rhus copallinum, winged sumac is in the cashew, pistachio and mango family of Anacardiaceae. The marginal leafy wings that are between its leaflets are very interesting, and the way its leaves change color in autumn, creating splashes of scarlet in a sea of dark green, is pleasing. Drupe clusters lasting through fall and winter also add color, but perhaps not so much as those on other sumacs. This is an attractive tree for where it is placed, and also where it appears uninvited.
Native to eastern North America, winged sumac is an invasive small tree or shrub. It has a moderate growth rate, growing in full sun to part sun. Usual habitat is upland woodland borders and abandoned fields, where soil is mesic or slightly dry and well-drained. Its tap root gives it a high drought tolerance. Roots are usually not a problem on the surface, but spreading rhizomes may create colonies. This tree is usually seen in thickets or colonies, reaching 12 to 25 feet or more in height. The tree wants to grow with several trunks, but a tree can be trimmed to one trunk. Crooked branches droop, creating an open and rounded crown. Bark of the trunk and its branches is thin and gray, and twig color is reddish brown. Twig thickness is medium to thick. Sap is watery.
Leaves are pinnately compound, which means that they consist of leaflets on a rachis. Rachises appear alternately on branches, and their lengths could be over 2 feet. They have 7 to 21 ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaflets, which are paired and with one on the end. Leaflets are glossy dark green with smooth margins, and measure 2 to 4 inches. The rachis is winged with leaf material from base leaves to tip.
Flowers bloom during mid-summer for about 2-3 weeks. Individual trees normally have only male or female flowers, but some trees may have both. Also, male flowers could have non-functional pistils and female flowers could have non-functional stamens. Colonies are most often of 
one sex, formed from a single, suckering parent. I often see colonies with initial flowering activity but then no drupe clusters, and the reason is they are all male. Flowers are in yellowish white clusters, with each flower about 1/8-inch across and consisting of 5 petals, 5 stamens, and a central pistil.
Flower clusters are succeeded by pyramidal panicles or clusters of drupes. These drupes turn dull red and finally black, and they persist through winter. Each drupe is about 1/8-inch long, and is a dry seed coated with an acidic fleshy substance. This substance common to sumacs is flavorful for making spices and refreshing drinks, but the flavor of winged sumac is more bland than other 
species, so less desirable for such use. Pubescence on drupes is not immediately obvious, as it is on staghorn sumac.
Sumac trees have many interesting properties and uses. Dried sumac wood is fluorescent under ultra violet light. It carves and turns well, and is a favorite of woodworkers. Pithy stems may be hollowed to make pipe stems. Leaves and bark are a source of tannin, which is used to tan Moroccan-quality leather. The seeds of some species are used in spices to accent foods. The tree is an important source of food for many animals, including insects, caterpillars, birds, rabbits and deer. Though wary of the trees’ invasiveness, people do enjoy seeing sumacs in the landscape. One species of sumac, poison sumac, 
produces allergic reactions in people similar to poison ivy. This tree is rarely encountered in drier upland areas where winged sumac exists, and because it has no wings it is easy to tell apart.
Of all sumacs, winged sumac is considered the best for ornamental planting. This is due to its dwarf size and its lustrous dark green leaves which turn brilliant orange-red in the fall. Many enjoy seeing it used on highway median strips, and as a component of shrub borders. Winged sumac is a very attractive and useful tree, in spite of its invasive nature.
