# Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum)

> Winged sumac, Rhus copallinum: a shrub of 7 to 35 feet for zones 4 to 9, how fast it grows, where it grows wild, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/winged-sumac/

![Winged sumac leaflets glowing red and orange in fall, seen from below against a blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/winged-sumac-1000.jpg?v=8213f9ce "Winged sumac in fall color in Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia, on October 21, 2020. Its fruit ripens in September and October and lasts through the winter.")
*Photo: Famartin, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A2020-10-21_12_37_35_Winged_Sumac_leaves_in_autumn_along_a_walking_path_in_the_Franklin_Farm_section_of_Oak_Hill%2C_Fairfax_County%2C_Virginia.jpg))*

Shrub, 7 to 35 feet, zones 4 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow winged sumac, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Winged Sumac |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Shining sumac, flameleaf sumac, mountain sumac, wing-rib sumac, black sumac, upland sumac, shiny sumac, southern sumac |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 7 to 35 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 35 |
| Zones | 4 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, honey tree, bears young, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Flowers | July to August |
| Fruit | Drupes, August to February |
| First crop | 3 to 4 years |
| Pollination | Separate male and female plants. Winged sumac plants are usually male or female, and only females bear fruit, so a female needs a male nearby. |
| Black walnut | Tolerant, on the Morton Arboretum's list as “shining sumac” |
| Ground | Dry uplands, rocky ground, sandy barrens, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 34 states and the District of Columbia |

Winged sumac is native in 34 states and the District of Columbia: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=winged-sumac): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=winged-sumac:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [New Jersey Tea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/new-jersey-tea/index.html.md) (*Ceanothus americanus*): shrub, 2 to 3 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Hillside Blueberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hillside-blueberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium pallidum*): shrub, 1 to 3 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Running Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/running-serviceberry/index.html.md) (*Amelanchier spicata*): shrub, 1 to 6 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Prairie Redroot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/prairie-redroot/index.html.md) (*Ceanothus herbaceus*): shrub, 2 to 3 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Common Juniper](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-juniper/index.html.md) (*Juniperus communis*): shrub, 2 to 10 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Fragrant Sumac](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/fragrant-sumac/index.html.md) (*Rhus aromatica*): shrub, 2 to 6 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Every companion of winged sumac in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=winged-sumac)

## Read from

Its figures come from the USDA PLANTS Database, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the University of Connecticut's plant database and UF/IFAS Extension.