Rhus Ovata S. Wats

by Beverly Adams, Native Plants of Arizona 2004
Common names:  Sugar sumac, Sugar bush (3),  Chaparral Sumac, Mountain-laurel (4)
Family:  Anacardiacea (2)
Synonymy: Rhus ovata var. traskiae Barkl. p.p. (1)
Etymology:  

Identification
Growth form:  Dense, leafy shrub or small tree that grows up to 15 feet tall.  (3)
Roots:
Stem:  Brown twigs are at first puberulent but later glabrous (3).  Trunk can measure up to five inches in diameter with grayish brown, shaggy, rough and scaly looking bark (4).
Leaves: Evergreen.  Blades leathery measuring 4-9 cm long and folded along midrib (3) Leaves are simple, entire and often shinny green (5).
Inflorescence/flowers: Panicle of dense spikes measuring 3-5 cm long.  Bracts and sepals are ciliate measuring 2 mm long. (3)  Flower buds are a pink or reddish color while the flower is cream in coloration (5).
Fruit: Forms a drupe that is glandular-viscid measuring 7-8 mm in diameter (3). The fruit is reddish and hairy comprised of one cell (5).
Similar species:  Somewhat similar to Rhus trilobata, though leaves are characteristically pinnately compound with three leaflets (3).

Ecology
Life history: Perennial shrub to tree (2)
Native/introduced: Native to the Southwestern United States (2).
Photosynthetic pathway:
Phenology:  Flowers from February to May (3).
Distribution:   Fround in Arizona and California between 3,00 to 5,000 feet elevation on slopes and mesas (3, 5). 

Uses: Fruits are edible and are often used as a sweetener (4)

References

1.  Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (http://www.itis.usda.gov).

2.  USDA, NRCS.  2002.  The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5.  (http://plants.usda.gov).  National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70874-4490  USA.

3.   McDougal, W.B. 1973.  Seed Plants of Northern Arizona, The Museum of Northern Arizona.  Flagstaff, Arizona.

4.  Epple, A. O.  1995.  A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona.  Falcon Publishing.  Helena, Mountana.

5.  Natural Vegetation Committee, Arizona Chapter Soil Conservation Society of America. 1973.  Landscaping with Native Arizona Plants.  The Universtiy Of Arizona Press.  Tucson.