Participant Info

Species

Rhus aromatica [Rhus trilobata] [Schmaltzia affinis] [Schmaltzia anisophylla] etc.

Family

Anacardiaceae

CommonName

fragrant sumac, skunkbush sumac

Presence

Yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1934

LatestDate

2020

Ecosystem

basin, foothill, montane

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos, UBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Coller, Great Sand Dunes, Hot Creek

Other Localities

La Botica

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Chico trail just S of Del Norte 3 May 2019

Comments

Rhus aromatica is a very common shrub of the Watershed foothills, although there are no records from the Culebras (the Costilla Co record is near Ft. Garland). No doubt it occurs in the Culebras since it is recorded from all the Rio Grande drainage counties of New Mexico. It is found in every state of the USA. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico on down to Webb Co, Texas. Note that this plant has given taxonomists fits. The Watershed species is sometimes referred to as Rhus aromatica subsp. trilobata and sometimes Rhus trilobata (see Allred et al., 2020).

Annotation