Species including the fragrant sumac (
R. aromatica), the littleleaf sumac (
R. microphylla), the smooth sumac (
R. glabra), and the staghorn sumac (
R. typhina) are grown for
ornament, either as the wild types or as
cultivars.
In food The dried fruits of some species are ground to produce a tangy, crimson spice popular in many countries. Fruits are also used to make a traditional "
pink lemonade" beverage by steeping them in water, straining to remove the hairs that may irritate the mouth or throat, sometimes adding sweeteners such as honey or sugar. Sumac's tart flavor comes from high amounts of
malic acid. The fruits (
drupes) of
Rhus coriaria are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a
spice in many different cuisines to add a tart,
lemony taste to salads or meat. In
medieval Europe, primarily from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, sumac appeared in cookbooks frequently used by the affluent. One dish in particular called
sumāqiyya, a stew made from sumac, was frequently rendered as "somacchia" by Europeans. In North America, the smooth sumac (
R. glabra), three-leaf sumac (
R. trilobata), and staghorn sumac (
R. typhina) are sometimes used to make a beverage termed "sumac-ade", "Indian lemonade", or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing them to extract the essence, straining the liquid through a cotton cloth, and sweetening it. Native Americans also use the leaves and drupes of these sumacs combined with
tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.
Dye and tanning agent The leaves and bark of most sumac species contain high levels of
tannins and have been used in the manufacturing of leather by many cultures around the world. The Hebrew name ''og ha-bursaka'im'' means "tanner's sumac", as does the Latin name of
R. coriaria. The leaves of certain sumacs yield
tannin (mostly
pyrogallol-type), a substance used in vegetable
tanning. Notable sources include the leaves of
R. coriaria, Chinese gall on
R. chinensis, and wood and roots of
R. pentaphylla.
Leather tanned with sumac is flexible, light in weight, and light in color. One type of leather made with sumac tannins is
morocco leather. The dyeing property of sumac needed to be considered when it was shipped as a fine floury substance in sacks as a light cargo accompanying heavy cargoes such as marble. Sumac was especially dangerous to marble: "When sumac dust settles on white marble, the result is not immediately apparent, but if it once becomes wet, or even damp, it becomes a powerful purple dye, which penetrates the marble to an extraordinary depth."
Ibn Badis describes a formula for making red ink out of leeched sumac mixed with gum. was used for only the outerwear of the
Emperor of Japan, thus being one of the
forbidden colors.
Traditional medicinal use Sumac was used as a treatment for several different ailments in medieval medicine, primarily in West, Central and South Asian countries (where sumac was more readily available than in Europe). An 11th-century shipwreck off the coast of
Rhodes, excavated by archeologists in the 1970s, contained commercial quantities of sumac
drupes. These could have been intended for use as medicine, as a culinary spice, or as a dye. A clinical study showed that dietary sumac decreases the
blood pressure in patients with
hypertension and can be used as
adjunctive treatment.
Other uses Some beekeepers use dried sumac bobs as a source of fuel for their
smokers. Sumac stems also have a soft pith in the center that is easily removed to make them useful in traditional Native American pipemaking. They were commonly used as pipe stems in the northern United States. Dried sumac wood
fluoresces under long-wave
ultraviolet radiation. ==Toxicity and control==