sumach

British  

/ ˈʃuː-, ˈsuːmæk /

noun

1. any temperate or subtropical shrub or small tree of the anacardiaceous genus Rhus, having compound leaves, clusters of green flowers, and red hairy fruits See also poison sumach

2. a preparation of powdered leaves of certain species of Rhus, esp R. coriaria, used in dyeing and tanning

3. the wood of any of these plants

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Etymology

Origin of sumach

C14: via Old French from Arabic summāq

Example Sentences

Another Rhus very common in the valleys of Southern California is R. laurina, Nutt., usually called "sumach."

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

"A sumach of the Atlantic States extending through Eastern and Southern Texas to the Rio Grande."

From Texas Honey Plants by Sanborn, C. E.

The harmonies of colour that filled the landscape culminated in a crimson sumach growing hard by in a corner of a rail fence.

From The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains by Murfree, Mary Noailles

The sumach high and the elder thick, Where we found the stone and the ragged stick The trampled road of the thicket, full Of footprints down to the quarry pool.

From Kentucky Poems by Cawein, Madison J.

The black dwarf, or mountain sumach, is smaller, with softer, closer velvet coating its twigs and lining its leaves, than the burly staghorn sumach wears.

From Trees Worth Knowing by Rogers, Julia Ellen