Flora of the Southeastern United States

Toxicodendron vernix (Linnaeus) Kuntze. Common name: Poison Sumac, Thunderwood, Poison Elder, Poison Dogwood. Phenology: May-Jun; Aug-Sep. Habitat: In fens and other peaty habitats, in the Coastal Plain frequent in streamhead pocosins, sandhill seepage bogs, and bayhead-cutthroat savanna ecotones (c. FL), occurring in the mountains in bogs and further northward in (typically) higher-quality marshes, fens, and swamps. Distribution: Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to c. peninsular Florida (to Highlands County) and Texas. Found near Paris, Tennessee just west of the transition zone from the Western Highland Rim into the Tennessee Coastal Plain (M. Pyne, pers. comm.; 2025).

ID notes: The leaf rachis and leaflet petiolules are usually a dark red or maroon color (sometimes green in heavier shade, the petiolules still often maroon-tinged). The leaflets are often upcurved from the rachis, even if only slightly so; the leaves turn a very attractive shade of orange-red in autumn, often contrasting sharply with the mature white drupes.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Synonymy ⓘ: = C, Can, Fl4, FNA13, GW2, Il, K1, K4, Mi, NcTx, NE, NeUS, NS, NY, Pa, POWO, S, Tn, Va, W, WH3; = Rhus vernix L. — F, G, RAB, S13, Tat, Tx, WV. Basionym: Rhus vernix L. 1753

Links to other floras: = Toxicodendron vernix - FNA13

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: OBL
• Midwest: OBL
• Northcentral & Northeast: OBL

Heliophily ⓘ: 6