Index / Search / Rhus microphylla

§1 Plant

Rhus microphylla Engelm. ex A. Gray

vernacular littleleaf sumac — species · Anacardiaceae


USDA
RHMI3
GBIF
7707078
Rank
species
littleleaf sumac (Rhus microphylla)
Platephotograph · Pedro Nájera QuezadaCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Anacardiaceae R. Br.
Genus
Rhus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 66 counties across 4 states/territories
Legend Native · 66 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
High
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-13 °F minimum
Frost-free days
150 min.
Precipitation
8–26 in/yr
pH range
7–8.5
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
10 ft
Height @ 20 y
10 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Red
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
18,000
Propagation
seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 66 counties across 4 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/RHMI3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/7707078 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z