Seriously jujujojo, much of what you posted is sumac, not tree of heaven, some smooth sumac I think, and several staghorn sumac, I am quite sure. As Smivies said, staghorn sumac is one of several native early colonizers of open field, sprouting and growing quickly once the field is no longer mowed. (White pine and various wild cherries do the same thing here, though don't spread colonially via roots like the sumac and aspen, another early colonizer of old fields.) That isn't to say that other non-native plants won't take advantage of similar situations and fill in. IME many native plants are more likely to coexist well with others than many of the non-natives like tree of heaven or buckthorn, which seed prolifically and crowd out the natives. IMO, sumac is one of those right plant, right place genera because they do sucker. We maintain one large clump of staghorn sumac in an area where we and the wildlife can appreciate it, but its spread can be contained through mowing. When we bought our old farm, the fields were starting to grow up in sumac, but with several mowings a year early on, and now 2 or 3 mowings a year with a brush hog (heavy duty tractor pulled mower) the field stays clear of small trees and shrubs, including sumac. If you have space for some sumac and the time and equipment to maintain it, it's a wonderful plant. The fruit (those fuzzy red clumps that are in photos 1, 3, and 5) are good food for various birds, along with the insects that live in the clumps. Fall color is stunning, a mix of chartreuse, gold, orange and red, and many birds use them for nesting and habitat. I have a wonderful memory of finding an old field full of sumac while walking one day that was hopping with cedar waxwings, and where I used to work there was a long stretch of it that had robins in it all fall and winter. Sumac along an old field edge in the farm next to us From September 28, 2014 and here's the top of our clump on the far left, a bit more orange than the clump above. From 2013 Here is a link to a blog where she talks about insect eating birds liking the critters in the sumac: http://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/staghorn-sumac-seed-heads-and-their-inhabitants/ and the link below is about birds that use the fruit as late winter food. Here is a link that might be useful: songbirds and sumac

Hi Rhonda, IMO those are too small to be KCT seeds but in case they are you need to get the tough outer covering off for it to germinate. I knicked mine all over with little hacksaw cuts (I used a clamp as well) and repeated soaked them in hot water. It took perhaps two weeks to get the coating off all of them, it's like they are shrink wrapped in #1 plastic. The seeds swell wherever the water can soak in, by the time you get most of the coating off it's about the size of a extremely lumpy buckeye. If you can cut right into the seed it's probably not KCT. HTH, Jeanne

My favorite smaller tree (full grown less than 10 ft. tall & almost as wide with few open long spreading small branches) is my Staghorn Sumac. Previous home owners brought it from Iowa & planted it here.Though I live in high desert zone 7 @ 5280 ft. (Albuquerque, NM) this tree must be nearly 50 years old & looks very oriental in shape & colors many different shades that change daily beautifully in the Fall before the leaves fall. It can put out a 'baby'/shoot from roots that occasionally come up from the main tree but are readily killed- or pulled & given to so many that want a start of it!! I see it is now available in the local nurseries also. It shows best out by itself where the oriental shape shows best! There are clusters of 'berry-like' tips on the branches that I was told the Native Americans would make a 'lemonade- like' drink from it (it is NOT poisonous like some sumac varieties).

So interesting. So staghorn sumac is the same or equivalent to the powdered sumac used in Armenian dishes? I have wondered. If anyone is near or passes by the Cambridge - Watertown Border, there are provision stores in an area on Rte 16 (?) — ‘Little Armenia.’ I forgot (for now) the name of the store I go to, but loads of delicious foods and ingredients — all types of feta, lentils and so on. (Store’s name is Massis.) They sell prepared salads, including a lentil salad that I surmise use sumac. They also sell powder mint, and sumac. After enjoying a ptheir lentil salad, I came home and attempted to replicate it. If I find my take on it, I can post it if anyone’s interested. I have some staghorn sumac growing nearby. Hmm. Someone told me that black bears will eat the seeds (I guess during lean times).