Poison Sumac

Toxicodendron vernix

Found in mountain bogs and fens; pocosins and bay forests; Coastal Plain seepage bogs; sandhills; swamps. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

Contact hazard

Native to Virginia. Not suggested for planting. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 100%

Height: 6–15 feet
Light: Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture: Usually moist

Toxicodendron vernix — fruit photograph — (c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original photograph

Contact hazard. Avoid contact. Plant oils can cause severe skin reactions; smoke from burning plants is also hazardous. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle: Woody perennial
Leaves: Deciduous
Bloom: May to June
Fruiting season: August to September

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Not yet recorded · Spread

Recorded in 50 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 5

Dense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 73 animals.

Yellow-rumped Warbler
Dendroica coronata
Birds. 1 shared habitat

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

57CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Rhus

Achatia distinctaDistinct Quaker
Acronicta longaLong-Winged Dagger, Darkish Dagger
Actias lunaLuna Moth
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
Biston betulariaSalt-and-Pepper Geometer, Cleft-Headed Looper

Show all 57

Caloptilia belfragellaDogwood Caloptilia
Caloptilia rhoifoliellaSumac Leafblotch Miner Moth, Sumac Caloptilia
Calycopis cecropsRed-Banded Hairstreak, Cecrops Hairstreak
Cameraria guttifinitellaPoison Ivy Leafminer
Cecrita guttivittaMaple Prominent, Saddled Prominent
Celastrina neglectaSummer Azure
Chloropteryx tepperariaAngled-Winged Emerald
Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
Citheronia regalisRoyal Walnut Moth, Hickory Horned Devil
Cleora sublunariaDouble-Lined Gray
Datana ministraYellow-Necked Caterpillar Moth
Datana perspicuaSpotted Dantana
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
Lophocampa caryaeHickory Tussock Moth, Hickory Tiger Moth
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 appendiceumServiceberry Leafroller
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
Spiramater lutraDarling Mamestra, Splashed Arches, Otter Spiramater, Otter Arches
Telphusa longifasciellaY-Backed Telphusa
Tetracis crocallataYellow Slant-Line
Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
Paralobesia cypripediana
Paralobesia rhoifructana
Schreckensteinia erythriella

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

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

38BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Toxicodendron

Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
Campephilus principalisIvory-billed Woodpecker
Cardinalis cardinalisNorthern Cardinal
Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
Catharus ustulatusSwainson's Thrush
Chamaea fasciataWrentit
Columba liviaRock Pigeon
Contopus virensEastern Wood-Pewee
Dryobates nuttalliiNuttall's Woodpecker

Show all 38

Dryobates pubescensDowny Woodpecker
Empidonax flaviventrisYellow-bellied Flycatcher
Haemorhous mexicanusHouse Finch
Ixoreus naeviusVaried Thrush
Junco hyemalisDark-eyed Junco
Melanerpes carolinusRed-bellied Woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalusRed-headed Woodpecker
Melospiza melodiaSong Sparrow
Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
Myadestes townsendiTownsend's Solitaire
Oreortyx pictusMountain Quail
Pheucticus melanocephalusBlack-headed Grosbeak
Pipilo maculatusSpotted Towhee
Quiscalus quisculaCommon Grackle
Sayornis nigricansBlack Phoebe
Sialia mexicanaWestern Bluebird
Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
Sphyrapicus ruberRed-breasted Sapsucker
Toxostoma longirostreLong-billed Thrasher
Toxostoma redivivumCalifornia Thrasher
Toxostoma rufumBrown Thrasher
Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
Tympanuchus phasianellusSharp-tailed Grouse
Vireo belliiBell's Vireo
Vireo gilvusWarbling Vireo
Vireo griseusWhite-eyed Vireo
Zonotrichia atricapillaGolden-crowned Sparrow
Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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 3a–8b
Soil pH: Acidic
Flower color: Yellow or green
Fruit begins: August
Fruit ends: September

Growing sources and scope

Bloom · “May to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Flower color · “Yellow or green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
Fruit ends · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Height · “6–15 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers
Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox

Also known as

sumac

Conservation status

Virginia rank	S5
Global rank	G5
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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