One day years ago, I thought to try to make a drink that some call Indian or hillbilly lemonade. I collected red clusters of berries from smooth sumac and the very similar staghorn sumac. I put them in a large container, and poured in boiling water. I crushed the berries in the water, and filtered the liquid through a cheesecloth. It tasted very sour. After much dilution, and adding sugar and ice cubes, it tasted very good-similar to lemonade. Later in the fall, I thought to make more. The berries this time were darker red, and this product tasted pleasantly fruity. I gave my mother some of this concentrate, and when she made jelly from it everyone loved it.
There is much smooth sumac in the Atlanta area. 
With scientific name Rhus galbra, smooth sumac is also known as white sumac, upland sumac and scarlet sumac. It is native to North America, and can be found in all 48 contiguous states. However, most smooth sumac is found in the eastern United States, ranging from southern Quebec to northern Florida, and extending westward to Arizona. It grows primarily in upland areas with dry to moist but not wet conditions. It is tolerant of poorer soils and prefers full sun to partial shade.
Smooth sumac is a shrub or small tree that grows in colonies spread by underground rhizomes, or suckers. It can reach heights of 20 feet or more, having multiple short and crooked trunks that lean outward making an open crown. Bark on 
older wood is smooth, thin, and gray. Young stems are stout, redish, and smooth-not densely pubescent like the similar staghorn sumac species. They exude clear sap when broken, not milky sap like staghorn sumac. Buds are small, covered with brown hair, and are almost totally encircled by a leaf scar.
Leaves of smooth sumac are pinnately compound, which means that they consist of leaflets on a rachis. Rachises appear alternately on branches, and their lengths could be up to 20 inches long. They have 11 to 31 leaflets, which are paired, and with one on the end. Leaflets are shiny dark green on top and dull light green below, lanceolate, and have serrated margins. They measure 2 to 4 ¼ inches long, and turn a 
beautiful scarlet red in autumn.
Flowers bloom in late June and July in large, dense and erect panicles that may be 10 inches tall. Flowers are greenish-yellow and tiny. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. Female flowers produce bright red drupes, which are round, dry seeds measuring about 1/8 inch, and coated with an acidic fleshy substance. I see no fine hairs on drupes, unlike staghorn sumac which has very noticeable hairs. Drupes turn from bright crimson to maroon as they persist through autumn and winter.
One thing of interest that is sometimes found on smooth sumac and also staghorn sumac is the 
sumac leaf gall aphid, Melaphis rhois. When this aphid lays an egg on the underside of a leaf, the leaf reacts by producing a sac over the egg and forming a gall. One gall is pictured here.
There are many interesting uses and properties of sumac, as already given in the article on winged sumac. 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, and to make drinks. The tree is an important source of food for many animals, including insects, caterpillars, birds, rabbits and deer. People enjoy seeing sumacs in the landscape, but 
many are fearful lest they run into poison sumac, which can produce an allergic reaction in people. However, this tree is rarely encountered in drier upland areas where smooth sumac exists, and it has no upright crimson clusters of drupes like smooth sumac. It is cautioned, however, that sumac is in the family of cashews, pistachios and mangoes, so people sensitive to these fruits and nuts should use caution around sumacs.
Smooth sumac is a particularly attractive shrub or small tree, especially when leaves turn scarlet and drupe clusters turn bright crimson. This interesting tree is often seen in clearings, on abandoned farmland, and along roads. Though invasive, its presence can enrich the visual aesthetics of most sites on which it is found.
