Staghorn Sumac

The most spectacular native fall color combined with seed heads that feed birds all winter on slopes where nothing else thrives.

Staghorn sumac is a plant that announces itself. The massive compound leaves can be two feet long, turning a blaze of orange, red, and scarlet in fall, one of the most vivid fall color displays of any woody plant native to the east. The fuzzy velvet-coated branches (the 'staghorn' character) are architectural and distinctive in winter. The dense red seed clusters that form in late summer persist through winter and are eaten by dozens of bird species, including robins, bluebirds, and chickadees, when other food sources are gone. It spreads by suckering to form colonies: this is part of what it does, not a problem to manage unless you're working in a small, formal space. On a slope, along a woodland edge, or at the back of a naturalized planting, those colonies are exactly what you want. Deer won't touch it. It tolerates dry, rocky, and infertile soil. This is a bold, decisive plant for people who want impact over delicacy.