I encountered poison sumac recently. Was just about the worst 2.5 weeks of my life. Miserable, absolutely miserable. Was metal detecting on my friends farm, by a pond. Started on my face and went EVERYWHERE on my body. Two rounds of steroid injections, steroid creams and steroid pills to get over it. Always been very allergic to poison ivy, which ive gotten several times, but this was a whole different level of suffering. Glad to see this video to help educate. Stay away if you’re allergic to urushiol.

@evan5935

10 ай бұрын

Holy! Im glad you were able to get treated! Did you recognize the cause of the irritation right away, or did you get a test or something at the hospital?

@aaroncrowder4198

10 ай бұрын

@@evan5935 didnt even realize i had walked right under the sumac while metal detecting. That night my eyelids started to itch a little, which i didnt think much of. Next morning my face had swollen, along with other parts. I reached out to my bud to see if he had any symptoms and he immediately asked “you didnt go by the sumac, did you?”. Hes not allergic so he didnt think at the time either. Went to urgent care that day, got all the steroids in all the ways possible. It got better for a short bit but also kept spreading. Then it flared back up big time, guessing the injection helped initially but then wore off and the pills alone werent cutting it. That’s when i saw my pcp for another shot and more pills, which was less than a week after going to urgent care. Lots of calamine lotion was used, like three or four bottles. Seriously, avoid this plant at all costs and also NEVER burn them (i googled up big time after this experience).

@Maz08

10 ай бұрын

So sorry! I can relate whole heartedly. I posted above as to my story. It is living hell! My poor mom staying up with me, a preteen, placing cold wash clothes on my skin just to get relief to sleep for a bit. I don’t think she slept much that summer. Thanks mom! R.I.P.

@shalacarter6658

10 ай бұрын

@@aaroncrowder4198 I'm so sorry this happened to you!

@nozrep

10 ай бұрын

sorry for your suffering but thank you for the story. I too am massively allergic to poison oak and ivy, urushiol. Have had them bad several timed. Always try tp have a hawk’s eye when I am enjoying a walk through the woods in SE Texas. Glad you recovered!

I love seeing sumac. It lines just about all the highways in the northeast.

It grows everywhere here in Maine. I have made the drink and jelly with it. Also have bought the spice at an ethnic store and used on baked chicken. We had a tall patch on our former property that had fiddleheads growing under it. I hated to sell that. It was so special.

@theguyinmaine

10 ай бұрын

Hey fellow Mainiac, my parents had friends with your last name. How is the drink and jelly? Worth the time?

@kenycharles8600

10 ай бұрын

​@theguyinmaine I have had the jelly. My ex-mother-in-law made it. It was a little on the tart side, but really good on a buttered biscuit. I don't know how long it took her to make it. I saw it at an Amish store. It wasn't cheap there. Is it worth the price or your time to make it? I guess that depends on how much you like it versus how much you value your time and money. Enjoy

@paulmanson253

10 ай бұрын

@@theguyinmaine If you are interested,Arab and Iranian dishes have used sumac for time out of mind. Used the stuff myself over the last year. So a Persian or Arab market will sell the stuff,and saffron and others. Saffron rice with chicken,dust the sumac on the chicken before serving. A little tart,not like any other spice,I really like it. Terrific dish,if you are interested in experimenting. Saffron rice is memorably good. All the best.

I'm always trying to tell people no that is not poison sumac in fact you can make a pink lemonade out of, and they're surprised

When I started studying our area in the country, I learned of this. I would take my children on walks and teach them what was safe and what wasn't. Sumac was one of them🤗

There are many underappreciated fruit bearing plants here in America. I hope you cover more of them in the future!

I've always loved true sumac. An interesting fact that I noticed is how well the Cardnal birds blend in with this plant. When seen against this plant in the summer while the fruits are ripe the Cardnal birds are almost invisible unless they move. Even down to the slight curve of the body and the crest at the top of the head, this otherwise conspicuous bird is instantly hidden as it blends in perfectly with the fruits of this plant. A bright red showy bird hidden against green. The first time I saw Cardnal birds enjoying their time within a true sumac I couldn't help wondering if this was once the reason for the appearance of this beautiful bird. I hope many of you will be fortunate enough to view this fascinating combination, too.

So many people I've spoken to don't even know what sumac is. I love it. It has such a great lemony flavor. If anyone has eaten za'atar it's one of the ingredients that is typically used in it.

@pottersjournal

10 ай бұрын

From travel and the food, I've enjoyed the sumac often used in so many Mideastern dishes. I knew the spice, the plant on my farm and that there was a poisonous kind but didn't know one from the other. Adam is the best. My favorite breakfast or snack - pita top with za'atar, sumac, olive oil, toast it and top with labneh the drained yogurt cheese.

@kamikazitsunami

10 ай бұрын

@@pottersjournal hell yeah. I also make hummus, chopped tomatoes, red onions and cucumber to go on top, sprinkle za'atar and sumac on top, and then I drizzle some olive oil on top and eat with pita. That's a summer staple in my house. In the area that I live in people are very basic about their foods and it drives me crazy because I was raised in California where we know food. I now live in a foodie desert.

@pottersjournal

10 ай бұрын

@@kamikazitsunami Thank you. I have tomatoes and so many cucumbers in the garden right now. The Turkish minced meat 'pizza', lahmacun is so good too because of the sumac.

@ProctorsGamble

10 ай бұрын

I too love za’atar on homemade hummus 😋

When I tell people I'm allergic to mangos and cashews and they're related ..they usually say "ok" with an unbelieving tone. Now I have an even crazier thing I'm likely allergic to! We had Staghorn growing behind our garage growing up. Thanks for the Ed!

The lemonade tastes great! Thanks for this video

@bookswithatwist-vanvelzerp9262

10 ай бұрын

how do you make it ?

I love sumac aid! Very refreshing and nutritious.

Everyone around me is convinced that the smooth sumac, which is incredibly common around me, is "poison sumac". Which I've actually never seen in person, only tons and tons of smooth sumac. Smooth sumac makes a pretty good drink.

@StarfireReborn

10 ай бұрын

Smooth Sumac IS The Poisonous One. 🤦🏽‍♀️

@JoseMartinez-df2db

Ай бұрын

I've heard about sumac lemonade. I just bought a tiger-eye sumac and I can't wait to taste it! 😊

Thanks for this. I would add, if you think you've been exposed to poison sumac or poison ivy, the urushiol oil has the same consistency as motor oil and needs to be cleaned off the same way. A degreasing cleanser like the kind auto mechanics use is your best bet, along with scrubbing friction to remove the oils. If you need to handle poison sumac or poison ivy to remove it from your garden, double wrap your hands in plastic bags, then turn them inside out so the plant ends up in the bags. Yes, they sell special detergents to wash off poison ivy, but these are expensive and don't work as well as degreasers in my experience.

@katiekane5247

10 ай бұрын

Carrying a can of Goop hand cleaner has saved me & others many times. You don't even need water to degrease your exposed skin & save yourself from weeks of discomfort. Worth the couple bucks!

@malirabbit6228

10 ай бұрын

Thank you both!

this one I am amazed at. At our cabin in the woods the other folks saw 2 small normal edible sumac trees and were immediately down the bank with a saw and cut them down. They were like "whew, so glad I didn't get poisoned...' I told them, wrooooong sumac, but they were nonplussed. These are outdoorsmen who scratch their heads as to why grouse, doves, turkey, quail...etc... are less plentiful near camp. The internet has changed a lot of that, but still some do not know

@BornIn1500

10 ай бұрын

Doves being "less plentiful near camp" has nothing to do with hunting. They are a migratory species. If there are low numbers at that camp, than there's just not a good food source there. As far as lower numbers of grouse, turkey, and quail..... those are all ground-nesting birds and their eggs get ravaged by predators like opossums and skunks. And in the modern era with terribly low fur prices, the predators aren't being controlled at all, which leads to heavy egg predation, which in turn leads to much lower ground-nesting bird numbers. Natural predators have a far higher effect on their population than hunters, contrary to your anti-hunting stance.

@frankwoodward1231

10 ай бұрын

.

@ProctorsGamble

10 ай бұрын

I don’t think he was referring to hunting. He was referring to habitat loss.

@katiekane5247

10 ай бұрын

Old habits die hard. I've tried SO many times to dispell incorrect ideas about plants, woods & native perennials. Occasional wins, much frustration 😕

@tinngglyone

7 ай бұрын

An older family member told me I’d better be careful handling “them poison sumacs” when I was digging out the annual tree rat landscaping. They were black walnuts.

I love the taste of sumac tea. A grove of sumac in the fall is glorious to see . I've never seen poison sumac. I just picked the red clusters and let them sit in water in a pitcher.

I used this in a lemonade from our land in SW Oklahoma. It was tasty but a little messy to process.

Thanks for explaining the difference. Didn't know about the lemonade. I will try it.

I was just thinking about this channel the other night. Thanks for another awesome knowledgeable post Adam.

I absolutely do know how to differentiate between the two. All the property that I'm on at the top was the edible type of sumac and down at the bottom was the poison type definitely distinguishable between the two. Thanks a lot of people need to know this. PS I also have some sumac Aid in my refrigerator right now and it tastes so good, try I know you'll like it don't forget to add sugar

@naturescritter4691

10 ай бұрын

I actually don’t mind drinking it straight. It’s tart but good

As an amateur everything, I thank you so much! As a child I did not know there was a poison sumac. So as an adult I have just steered clear of my favorite snack when taking a nature walk. Now I know! 🥰

Knew almost all of that except the mango relationship. Thanks! Subscribed.

I looked for Poison Sumac for years and could never find it. Then I moved close to an Atlantic White Cedar Swamp and one day while out exploring, I walked right up on it. It is absolutely breathtaking in the fall. It has many colors in the leaves, green, yellow, orange, pink , red all mixed together. One of the most beautiful fall foliage plants ever, too bad it can't be touched. Winged Sumac grows naturally on my property, here in the South Jersey Pine Barrens.

We have tons of edible Sumac near me. They are ( my opinion) one of first signs that fall is coming. Their leaves are turning already ! They are beautiful ! Thank you , very informative They

❤❤❤ good to see you Adam and thank you for the information

Sumac is one of my favorite wild edibles. Thanks for bringing this to light!

I absolutely love the way you teach! Thank you. FYI- I recommended that the International Herbal Symposium reach out to you for their next gathering which is every two yrs so June 2025!😊

Thanks Adam. Now I am comfortable using sumac the way a local native American told me. I haven't watched you on a while.

@patriciamaloy8541

Ай бұрын

Would you mind sharing the way the natives taught you to use it please? Thank you

Perfect timing on this great video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Thank you for your hard work and sharing your knowledge. And THANK YOU for not talking over annoying background music.

Thank you Adam for the information. I have a bunch of spice bushes in my yard. Can you do a video on spice bushes and their uses. I've figured out a few ways to use the berries and bark but I'm sure you can tell me what I haven't figured out on my own.

@katiekane5247

10 ай бұрын

Maybe just enjoy them as an ornamental & let the wildlife enjoy them. "What can they do for me?" is a pretty self absorbed mindset IMO

@JeremyBertram-nd3wj

10 ай бұрын

@@katiekane5247 if we don't use nature to our benefit we are being wasteful and ungrateful. Using the bounty nature provides is how humans are supposed to live.

Your confident and forthright way of presenting your knowledge about nature makes me smile. You’re a brilliant and calming presence in this crazy world of ours. My need to to understand life in the woods a little more has been met. We have a lot of the red type of Sumac here in Essex County, Ontario. We did make Sumac Aid once years ago. Years later though, I learned that there was also a poison Sumac but didn’t know how to differentiate. Thank you for describing the different types of Sumac and differentiating between the poison type and non poison types. I also never knew that some people might have an allergic reaction to the non poison Sumac. --Very helpful. Thank you.🙏

Your video on sumac was very helpful. Thank you for sharing with us.

Great video as always, thanks for all you do!

You have quicly become my favorite foraging youtuber. You are eloquent, intelligible, you get to the point, and you make your content fun and easy to watch. Thank you for all you do!

Great video Adam.

Thanks Adam, will be having some tea this weekend.

Thank you for all of your work

An excellent review of these Sumac species. Thanks Adam.

Another informative video! Thanks a bunch!

Very easy to differentiate. Thank you!

Your videos are great, and you are very informative and well spoken. Keep them coming , thanks for all your efforts!!

Thanks so much Adam. Of the 400 or so channels I frequent, yours never fails to interest, teach and amuse me.

You’re an important person in the community of outdoors people. Thank you so much!

Very educational. Thank You. 🌿

Yet another interesting and informative video Adam. We have poison ivy on our property and my wife, who loves to garden, seems to always come in contact with that plant! 👍👍

Excellent! Thank you so much!

From Idaho- You've been consistently awesome,real,and informative for YEARS! My go to guy! Thank-you for your service!

I like your videos! straight to the point, not a ton of talking-or face in the vid talking anyway, short and sweet! Thanks! And educational, why we are all here! Appreciate it.

Thank you Adam for educating us on the key differences and info about the Rhus family. It is very interesting the similarities to Cashews and Pistachios. Some may not be aware that is the reason Cashews are baked, to negate their toxicity and be made edible. You are such a gifted teacher. I look for to your next post. All the best to you! 😎👍

I've always wondered, and now I know. Thanks

Thanks for this info very informative as always. I was really curious about this plant after moving back to east coast.

Just found your channel and love it!

Wow, I learned a lot from this video. Thanks for sharing your plant knowledge.

Thanks for this!

Thanks, true sumac just across the road and looking 👀 forward to trying the beverage

You are the best example of a real life Druid that I know of. I devour all of your teachings.🙏🙏🙏

Thankyou so much for this video. I’ve always wondered what the difference between the two were.

You are Amazing. Totally enjoy and learn from your methods of teaching. Many Blessings Thank-you

Thanks so much for this. Our apiary sits in the edge of a 4-5 acre field which grows some common sumac (staghorn I guess). The bees capitalize on it each year mid-July to Aug. After working extensively in it a decade ago I broke out severely, even though I’m constantly walking through it now. Probably have the poison variety near the creek where I started that work. Makes sense now. Thanks again! 😃👍

this is a favorite of mine as well and I used to gather and dry a winter supply after it was ripe and before heavy rains of fall in southeast Idaho ... here It likes scree slopes on dry hillsides or in parks where it's planted as an ornamental

Another helpful, informative video - Thanks, Adam! We have a lovely jungle of sumac on one side of our place in Maine. I was so excited to make my zataar and sumac ade!! The first summer, I couldn't wait for the fruits to form after the flowers passed, but, no fruit! I learned that a stand of sumac is all truly one creature, connected through the roots, and that you could have a male sumac. It flowers, but never grows the berries. Alas! But I'm glad to know more about poison sumac, and hope I see (but don't touch!) one someday!

I am allergic to urushiol. Last time I got a rash it was from MANGOS. Unripe mango skin has that poison oil.

Thank you, We have smooth sumac, and now I will utilize it for spices. I appreciate your video 💚🌙🌿

Thanks for the info. We have tru sumac all over our village.

another great video. i been enjoying your educational vids for years now. thank you for what you do. i first found these researching chicken of the woods. we are blessed to have a creek bottom full of locust trees that host tons of COW. last year i harvested around 80#. your videos helped fuel my fire for harvesting and cooking them. i never get tire of eating them! lol try this one: 1egg 1tsp asian sauce(oyster or stifry) few shakes of garlic pepper. mix that up to dredge pedals threw(press them down in dredge with fork so they take it in) then shake them in "famous andys" chicken breading. deep fry and make chicken sandwiches out of them! enjoy all

Thank you for making this video and for your channel! I just bought an old farm here in the wilds of Western PA. I have both smooth and staghorn sumac. After watching your video, I walked down to the overgrown pond to see if I also had poison sumac. Yes. I certainly do. Groves of it. The giant tree on the edge of the pond? Yep - poison sumac. There's also plenty of poison ivy, poison hemlock, water hemlock, and poke weed the size of small trees. I think I will just assume that everything on this property is deadly poison until I fully Learn my Land. Still glad I'm here - beats city living!

This is a well done, informative and comprehensive video. I recommend anyone seeing this to make the sumac-ade, tastes like lemonade & flowers to me. Real nice.

I live in Northern Maine and have Staghorn Sumac growing prolifically in certain areas of my property. They send out Runners which sprout into trees. They become sort of a grove with a low canopy.

Thank you for this report! This is very helpful for some of my family that are allergic to Sumac but yeah I think they may feel that they are allergic to non poisonous Sumac

my Organic Wildcraft Farm has a large crop of "winged" sumac....I call the drink SumacSmack...it is delicious. I have so appreciated your videos and find many of the trees/plants/herbs you talk about...Thank you.

Wonderful video! Bravo! Bravo!!!

Excellent info as always Adam! I have had the Sumac tea... delicious! A lot like lemonade... Yes, I remember when I started looking into different nut trees... Pistachios actually have to be harvested with gloves and roasted to remove the Urishiol. Cheers!

Wonderful learning.

I've always wanted to try making sumac tea(I like the spice too), but have heard of poison sumac and never tried it. Definitely going to harvest some soon!

Thank you!

Great video!

Thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏

Thanks!

Good to know, thanks!

The problem is people typically want to be special or have the best thing. They don't actually care about nature or read about it but every black vulture is a bald eagle, every poison ivy rash is poison sumac because when they were little and went to their grandparents farm that's what they were told. It's always that same story. I listened to two people in a bar talk about their poison ivy rash once. One person insisted on their rash being from poison oak because poison oak is apparently 1 step above poison ivy. I also live in Pennsylvania btw. The second person insisted that their rash was poison sumac because that's the top dawg. Their doctor told them it was poison sumac and I asked them how wet their socks got before coming in contact with it. They said it was in their backyard and they don't live in a swamp like Shrek nor do they have any body of water whatsoever. Who am I to say a doctor is wrong or that poison oak doesnt even grow in this state? lol The truth is poison ivy grows EVERYWHERE. It even appears to be below the sumac tree Adam is standing in front of. Unless that's box elder...

@SustainableBackyardNetwork

10 ай бұрын

I was wondering if that was poison ivy! I’m still getting comfortable discerning p ivy from box elder.

@newatthis50

10 ай бұрын

Pretty sure that was ivy. Got a fair eye for it as I'm allergic. Noticed it first thing

@LearnYourLand

10 ай бұрын

The plant growing under the sumac is black raspberry, not poison ivy.

@newatthis50

10 ай бұрын

@@LearnYourLand my bad Thank You

@Wulfgeir

10 ай бұрын

@@LearnYourLand also my bad.

Thanks 🤝

I have tons of staghorn sumac growing in my yard. I've always been afraid to do much with them because growing up when I heard sumac it was associated negatively. I had heard about the sumacade and wanted to try but wanted to educate myself as much as possible to make sure I wasn't going to make myself or my family sick. This video was very helpful

@juancarlosnegron2358

10 ай бұрын

As kids growing up we used to grab clusters of sumac right off the tree and suck them dry as a form of hydration, I can't quite remember how it taste but it is edible. This stuff grows vigorously all around where I live.

Great vid thanks

Thank you.

Now I know. Thank You!

Thank you 🌟

Much obliged.

Thank you. Though I was aware that rhere were both, " edible"and poison sumacs, I exactly needed a review about identifying them. Also, the Info about the difference in preferred habitats was helpful.

I use dried stag horn sumac in my smoker for bee keeping. Gives a nice cool smoke that supposedly helps control verroa destructor mites.

Always a goid day when one of your videos are uploaded

Ok, watching carefully as this is growing abundantly out back. 😊

great video, glad to learn and relearn. I stumbled across this education about sumac a few years ago too and, happened to learn that edible sumac is a major part of Mediterranean cuisines. Or was it Greek? Or was it Lebanese?😅 lol I can’t remember but it blew my mind and now I also have a big carton of sumac spice that the “international aisle” at my grocery store sells. I love it. It has a weird wonderful lemon-ee, slightly vinegar-ee flavor to it. And I put it on just about everything, especially chicken!

One of our favorites, Staghorn Sumac, so we grew a thirty foot tree to enjoy it's blessings.

hi Adam! What a great video. We have smooth Sumac on the roadsides in Nebraska and I love them. I love the punch of citrus flavor. Is that a gall growing on them? Blessings!

Great vid, just discovered a sauce the lebanese and israelis make, it’s some kind of savory tomato jam with sumac and zaatar that you dip french fries in. BIG Flavor!

Adam, Well done. I have always wondered why the Staghorn sumac wasn't ground into a spice like Rhus coriaria. Having been read about wild edibles since I read Euell Gibbons, in 1969, Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants of the World, and even A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North American don't mention the use of sumac berries as a spice. I haven't found any reason in the literature as to any qualities that would make the NA species no to be used as a spice. An article in Eater entitled: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sumac doesn't actually state the NA species can be used similarly, but to me kinda implies that the berries could be used as a spice after grinding. What is your experience and thinking? Would the smooth berried species work better so you don't have to filter out he "hairs?"

Love the videos best KZread channel ever you inspired me to make foraging Alabama my yt

Thank You Adam . I love your work ...

Thank you for this informative video. I notice at the 6:32 mark poison ivy at ground level in the background.

Staghorn Sumac can be used to make BANNOCK BREAD. It was a staple for American Natives and later (much later), for early European explorers. An early Native recipe: Broken sumac cones; Bear fat; dried berries; wild honey and a small amount of fresh water. Preheat a flat rock in an open, hot fire. Pour "batter" onto hot rock. Flip to finish cook. Garnish with fresh berries (when in season) and honey. Serve and enjoy. 😋