Natural Healing Sea Buckthorn
(Page 5 of 12)
November/December 2002
By Gina Mohammed, Ph.D.
For a cooling drink on a scorching summer day, simmer sumac berries, strain, and sweeten with honey or maple syrup to produce an unusual lemonade-like drink.
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Hunting for wild sumac
Sumac is a deciduous or evergreen shrub or a shrublike tree that grows wild throughout the Mediterranean, South Africa, Asia, northeastern Australia, and in northern temperate regions around the world. Small bushes and shrubs may range from six to twelve feet in height; taller sumac trees may reach twenty-three to thirty-three feet. There are many varieties of sumac. Mention sumac and at least one person is sure to ask about poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix). Like its cousins, poison ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii) and poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), poison sumac contains an oil resin, urushiol, which creates contact dermatitis that causes lesions and an intense itch. Should you decide to go foraging, you will need to know how to discern the edible from the poisonous. Poison sumac bears white berries in clusters. Avoid ingesting any white-fruited sumac. You can learn more about identifying poison sumac by visiting the websites listed on page 12.
Edible sumac varieties include smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), sweet sumac (Rhus aromatica), dwarf or winged sumac (Rhus copallina), lemonade berry (Rhus integrifolia), southwestern sumac (Rhus microphylla), sugar bush (Rhus ovata), and squaw berry (Rhus trilobata). All nonpoisonous species contain red berries when ripe and are sometimes inaccurately and collectively called red sumac.
Sumac leaves contain featherlike lance-shaped leaves with sharp-toothed margins, grouped in pinnated compounds with eleven and up to thirty-one leaflets attached to stout but soft wood branches. The hard, berrylike fruits are found in upright cone-shaped clusters and some varieties are covered with a velvety fuzz, which is rich in vitamin C and ascorbic acid.
Sumac should be gathered in the fall as soon as the berries turn red. If left on the tree for too long, much of the flavor will be lost.
Shopping for sumac
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