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Question about staghorn sumac...

20 years ago

Hello, again... I just recently discovered the existence of a Native Plant nursery in PA (Red Bud Native Plant Nursery in Glen Mills), about 20 min. from Philly. On my first trip there I picked up anything and everything I have always wanted, but could NEVER find at conventional nurseries... Now I not only have NO idea where these plants are going to end up, I have a question about the staghorn sumac I picked up. First of all, it has 3 beautiful fruit clusters, which is why I chose it, b/c some specimens had NO fruit. Well, when I researched the plant at home, I discovered it is dioecious, which means that I need a male AND a female plant for berries (I think--- correct me, if I'm wrong). But I was wondering... are the suckers put out from the parent plant always the same sex of the parent plant, or will I have to go back and purchase a male? Thanks :)

Jenny

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Comments (4)

Iris GW
20 years ago
Suckers from a plant are identical to the plant, so you could not get a male sucker from a female plant.

However the seeds from your plant may grow into male and female plants, of course.

I guess you could go back and get one of the other plants (one of the ones with no fruit) in the hopes of getting a male. Or there could be a male in the wild near you that will pollinate your female.
birdgardner
20 years ago
And they will sucker... I'm in the process of uprooting suckers all over my garden.

I will save a piece to put in some remote part of the yard that will get mowed around.
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I have to be honest with YOU. Staghorn Sumac trees are seen in my area as "weed trees", in other words, they are trees that are seen as being like "weeds". They had been growing wild along the driveway near mine and my neighbors house. AND, somehow Staghorn Sumac seems to have been given more respect from my neighbor, than it should have been given. Even though the Staghorn Sumac is a kinda "Trash tree" of a tree that is REALLY seen as a UNLOVED tree. I really DO welcome that anybody who see's the "Staghorn Sumac" as being a SOURCE of HORRIBLE news about just how much looking into the problems between the actual ":bitching about what is wrong", could ever be able to show the actual conflict about the problems could ever be clear enough to solve the mystery.
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cydonia33
Original Author
20 years ago
There aren't many wild sumacs around me here in Philly--- mostly ailanthus weeds!! Anyway, I totally forgot about the plant re-seeding itself... DUH! I wonder how long from seed to flower?? If it is too long, I might just go and try to purchase the male from the nursery.

I know that sumacs are weedy, but there are soooo many non-native invasives around here and I'm trying to out-compete those. Besides, I put it in a part of the yard that gets mowed every two weeks or so:)

Jenny
catherinet
20 years ago
Jenny,
I made the mistake of planting 2 of these in my backyard. Man, I can't believe how they're taking over, just in 3 years. So unless you want to spend the rest of your life cutting them down, be sure to plant them where they have tons of room to grow. Unfortunately, I too only have females! I would love to grow berries. We're in the middle of nowhere, so I'm not sure I'll ever get berries, so I better go find a male. Good luck to you.
P.S. Maybe you could find a stand of males, and bring some pollen home?

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