 Sumac (Rhus typhina)
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Common Name(s): Sumac, Staghorn Sumac Scientific Name: Rhus spp. (Rhus typhina) Distribution: Northeastern United States Tree Size: 30-40 ft (10-12 m) tall, 1 ft (.3 m) trunk diameter Average Dried Weight: 33 lbs/ft3 (530 kg/m3) Hardness: 680 lbf (3,030 N) Rupture Strength: 10,200 lbf/in2 (70,350 kPa) Elastic Strength: 1,190,000 lbf/in2 (8,210 MPa) Crushing Strength: 5,940 lbf/in2 (41.0 MPa) Shrinkage: No data available |
Color/Appearance: Along with Lignum Vitae, Sumac is one of the few woods that has a consistently yellow to olive-green coloration. Sapwood is a greyish white.
Grain/Pore: Grain tends to be straight to interlocked, with a fine to medium texture. Sumac has a moderate level of natural luster.
Endgrain: Ring-porous; medium-small earlywood pores 3-6 rows wide, very small latewood pores solitary and radial multiples of 2-3 sometimes forming bands; tyloses present; rays not visible without lens; parenchyma vasicentric.
Durability: Sumac is rated as being non-durable to perishable regarding decay resistance, and is also susceptible to insect attack.
Workability: Sumac is generally easy to work, yet its low density can produce fuzzy surfaces that need to be cleaned up with sanding.
Scent: There is no characteristic odor associated with this wood species.
Safety: Sumac has been reported to cause skin irritation. Most species that produce strong skin reactions (mostly through contact with leaves), such as Posion Sumac, are in the Toxicodendron genus, rather than the Rhus genus. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
Price/Availability: Because of its small size, Sumac is not a commercially important species. Small pieces of Sumac are occasionally harvested by hobbyists for specialty wood projects; prices should be moderate.
Comments: Some common uses for Sumac include: small specialty items, carving, turned objects, and inlay.
None available.
Scans/Pictures: A special thanks to Mike Leigher for providing the wood sample of this wood species.
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Sumac (sanded) |
 Sumac (sealed) |
 Sumac (endgrain) |
 Sumac (endgrain 10x) |
 Sumac (quartersawn) |
October 21st, 2011 at 8:47 am
I picked up some pen blanks from eBay. It’s a very light wood, greenish-yellow with darker streaks of brown. It turned very easily with no tearout issues and finished very well.
Not sure what else you’d like to know about it, feel free to contact me with questions.
November 20th, 2011 at 10:08 am
I have several stands of these trees on my property. It has a distinctive golden / greenish / Brown grain. I have found the pith of even the thickest part of the tree is still soft as foam. When cutting / working on the wood it has an odor quite similar to Olive wood.