Species PlantsPoison Sumac

Poison Sumac

Toxicodendron vernix

UncommonPlant
Illustration of Poison Sumac (Toxicodendron vernix)
Safety note: Contact with any part causes severe allergic rash; considered more toxic than poison ivy. Avoid all contact.

Poison Sumac is a shrub or small tree of sphagnum bogs, swampy woods, and wet forests that causes a more severe rash than poison ivy in sensitive individuals. It has pinnately compound leaves (unlike three-leaflet poison ivy) and drooping clusters of gray-white berries. The berries are eaten by many birds, who are unaffected by the urushiol.

Habitat
Sphagnum bogs, swampy woods, and wet forests of eastern North America
Diet
Gray berries eaten by many bird species including woodpeckers and flickers
How common
Uncommon

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