Staghorn Sumac
Rhus typhina
Found in roadsides, old pastures, thickets, clearings, rock outcrops, barrens. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
87
Keystone
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- About 30 feet
- Spread
- 20–30 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to average
Space about 25 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- June to September
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Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
1 of 2
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits
Habitats
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground; forest edges and thickets; cliffs, ledges and rocky summits.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
52CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Rhus
- Actias lunaLuna Moth
- Citheronia regalisRegal Moth
- Achatia distinctaDistinct Quaker
- Acronicta longaLong-Winged Dagger, Darkish Dagger
- Amorbia humerosanaWhite-Lined Leafroller Moth
- Antepione thisoariaVariable Antepione
- Archips argyrospilaFruit-Tree Leafroller Moth
- Archips georgianaFireworm, Georgia Leafroller
- Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
- Argyrotaenia quercifolianaYellow-Winged Oak Leafroller Moth, Lined Oak Leafroller
Show all 52
- Biston betulariaSalt-and-Pepper Geometer, Cleft-Headed Looper
- Caloptilia belfragellaDogwood Caloptilia
- Caloptilia rhoifoliellaSumac Leafblotch Miner Moth, Sumac Caloptilia
- Calycopis cecropsRed-Banded Hairstreak, Cecrops Hairstreak
- Cecrita guttivittaMaple Prominent, Saddled Prominent
- Chloropteryx tepperariaAngled-Winged Emerald
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Cleora sublunariaDouble-Lined Gray
- Datana ministraYellow-Necked Caterpillar Moth
- Datana perspicuaSpotted Dantana
- Datana robustaRobust Datana
- Derrima stellataPink Star
- Dichorda iridariaShowy Emerald
- Eacles imperialisImperial Moth, Imperial Spiny Caterpillar
- Episimus argutanaSumac Leaftier
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Holcocera chalcofrontellaSumac Holcocera
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Iridopsis defectariaBrown-Shaded Gray, Willow Looper
- Marathyssa basalisLight Marathyssa
- Marathyssa inficitaDark Marathyssa
- Marathyssa pulcherrimusBeautiful Eutelia
- Melanolophia canadariaCanadian Melanolphia, Variable Redmarked Looper
- Moodna ostrinellaDarker Moodna
- Morrisonia confusaConfused Woodgrain
- Nemoria bifilataWhite-Barred Emerald
- Nemoria rubrifrontariaRed-Fronted Emerald
- Olethreutes permundanaRaspberry Leafroller
- Paectes oculatrixEyed Paectes
- Paectes pygmaeaPygmy Paectes
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Pococera asperatellaMaple Webworm
- Pseudochelaria walsinghamiWalsingham's Moth
- Pyrrhia ciliscaAmerican Bordered Sallow, Noble Sun Moth
- Sciota subfuscellaStriped Sumac Leafroller
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Telphusa longifasciellaY-Backed Telphusa
- Tetracis crocallataYellow Slant-Line
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Paralobesia rhoifructana
- Stigmella intermedia
52BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Rhus
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
32BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Rhus
- Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
- Cardinalis cardinalisNorthern Cardinal
- Catharus fuscescensVeery
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Catharus minimus/bicknelliGray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thrush
Show all 32
- Catharus ustulatusSwainson's Thrush
- Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
- Coccothraustes vespertinusEvening Grosbeak
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Ixoreus naeviusVaried Thrush
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Mimus polyglottosNorthern Mockingbird
- Myadestes townsendiTownsend's Solitaire
- Oreortyx pictusMountain Quail
- Patagioenas fasciataBand-tailed Pigeon
- Pheucticus melanocephalusBlack-headed Grosbeak
- Pinicola enucleatorPine Grosbeak
- Pipilo maculatusSpotted Towhee
- Sialia currucoidesMountain Bluebird
- Sialia mexicanaWestern Bluebird
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
- Tyrannus tyrannusEastern Kingbird
- Vireo gilvusWarbling Vireo
- Vireo griseusWhite-eyed Vireo
- Vireo huttoniHutton's Vireo
- Vireo olivaceusRed-eyed Vireo
- Vireo solitariusBlue-headed Vireo
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Anacardiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3–8
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Flower color
- Red
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- June
- Fruit ends
- September
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Red” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 3–8” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “About 30 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Leaf retention · “Deciduous” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Soil · “medium to dry” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Soil pH · “Neutral” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Spread · “20–30 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications