Tree Talk: Staghorn Sumac

Today we're talkin' staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), our first sumac of Tree Talk! This common colonizer of disturbed sites in the northeastern US is an excellent tree for pollinators and wildlife, and has breathtaking autumn foliage. It is hardy, fast-growing, and spreads aggressively from seed and clonal root sprouts, giving it a weedy reputation - but since it has so many great qualities, is that really such a bad thing? Want more goods from the woods? Subscribe to this channel, and our monthly Forests for the Bay newsletter at www.allianceforthebay.org/project/forests-for-the-bay/newsletters/ ! Who are we, anyway? Forests for the Bay is an educational program of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Learn more at allianceforthebay.org. Forests for the Bay has been funded by the US Forest Service for many years, and has allowed us to educate countless people on trees and their myriad benefits. Tree Talk is an extemporaneous lesson by Ryan Davis, recorded opportunistically by his wife Allyson while out and about in the landscapes they love. He sometimes gets things wrong because he's just speaking from memory, and the pop-ups and fact checks come from two sources: the US Forest Service Southern Research Station's accounts of the species at hand, and the 5th edition of North American Trees by Dr. Richard Preston Jr. and Dr. Richard Braham (Ryan's college dendrology professor) of North Carolina State University. This particular video, and a few others, also had some tidbits from Donald Culross Peatie's superb book, "A Natural History of North American Trees". Recorded on 07/05/25 in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, by xeric pioneer Allyson Davis.