| Rhus lanceolata | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Anacardiaceae |
| Genus: | Rhus |
| Species: | R. lanceolata |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhus lanceolata (A. Gray) Britton | |
| Synonyms | |
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Rhus lanceolata, the prairie sumac, is a species of plant native to the south-western United States (Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico), and northern Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas).
Rhus lanceolata is a shrub or small tree up to 9 m (30 feet) tall, reproducing by means of underground rhizomes. Leaves are pinnately compound with 13-17 lanceolate leaflets and a winged rachis. Leaflets are entire (untoothed) or with small teeth, green and shiny above but whitish and pubescent below. Flowers are born in a panicle up to 14 cm (5.6 inches) tall. Flowers are white to greenish. Fruits are lens-shaped, about 6 mm (0.25 inches) across, dark red and hairy.
Birds eat the fruit during the winter, and deer forage the foliage. The tannin-containing leaves have been used to tan leather.