Witnessed by: Western
Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), of the Anacardiaceae family. Smooth-stemmed suckering shrub, whitish-bloomed hairless branches, pinnate leaves turning scarlet in autumn, and a dense upright cone of crimson fruits; native range: North America — throughout the United States and southern Canada, on dry banks, old fields, roadsides and the edges of woods. Globally recognized as smooth sumach, scarlet sumach, upland sumach, Pennsylvania sumach in English. The part used is the berries (fruit); also the bark of root and stem. Small crimson drupes densely coated in sour hairs and packed into an upright cone; sharply sour and astringent, and giving a red, lemon-tart liquor when steeped in cold water.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SMOOTH SUMAC
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- smooth sumac
- Scientific name
- Rhus glabra L.
- Family
- Anacardiaceae
Form
- Part used
- the berries (fruit); also the bark of root and stem
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- sour · astringent
Temperature
- Western
- cool
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- mucous membranes · bowels · kidneys · skin
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- refrigerant, astringent and diuretic (the berries); the bark astringent, antiseptic and tonic
Cautions
- Contraindications
- constipation and a dry bound bowel — the drug is cold and binding
- Toxicity
- the berries and bark of the smooth sumach are not poisonous, and the fruit is drunk as a beverage. The danger lies in misgathering: poison sumach (Toxicodendron vernix), with its white drooping berries, raises severe blistering dermatitis, and those sensitive to the Anacardiaceae may react even to this kind.
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