Rhus integrifolia (Nutt.) Brewer & S. Watson                                                               Anacardiaceae (Sumac Family)    Native    Lemonadeberry   Mahogany                           Coast Sumac

                                         June Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Rounded aromatic shrub, 1-3 m.  high, with  finely pubescent, +/- reddish stoutish twigs; lvs. coriaceous, flat, subentire or with shallow sharp teeth, oblong-ovate, rounded-obutse at both ends, subglabrous, 2.5-5 cm. long, 2-3 cm. wide; sometimes +/- lobed; petioles 3-6 mm. long; fls. in close panicles, rose to white, subtended by roundish hairy bracts; petals ciliolate, ca. 3 mm. long, drupe viscid, acid, pubescent, reddish, flattened, ca. 10 mm. in diam.; stone flat, ca. 7 mm. long.

Habitat:  Ocean bluffs and canyons, dry places under 2600 ft.; inland to w. Riverside Co.; Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral; Santa Barbara Co. to L. Calif.; Channel Ids.  Feb.-May.

Name:  Greek, rhous, ancient name for sumac.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 64).  Integrifolia means that the leaf margin is not toothed.  (Dale 42).

General:  Common in the study area.  Photographed specimens are along and above Back Bay Dr. between Big Canyon and Eastbluff Dr. and on the east side of the Delhi Ditch.  (my comments).       Used in making a drink, the berries were soaked in water and the fine hairs strained out.  Indians dried the berries for preservation, then soaked them in water and  heated them for a form of hot pink lemonade.  The Cahuillas used a tea of the leaves as a treatment for coughs and colds.  The berries make a pleasantly tart snack if placed in the mouth right off the bush.  The fruit is eaten by Mountain Quail, Crow, Red-shafted Flicker, Scrub Jay and Cactus Wren.  (Clarke 52).       There are a number of examples of chemical compounds in chaparral plants that may play important roles in restricting herbivory.  Many of us have experienced the effectiveness of phenolic compounds in poison oak called resorcinols.  Lemonadeberry, sugar bush, and laurel sumac all contain related compounds called catechols, which may also cause dermatitis in highly sensitive individuals.  Pungent turpentines are characteristic of many groups of coastal sage scrub species, particularly members of the mint and sunflower families.  Most legumes have either highly toxic alkaloids or similarly toxic non-protein amino acids.  All of these compounds, produced at a significant metabolic rate, are thought to reduce potential herbivory and related damage by pathogens.  (Rundel, Philip W.  "Structure and Function in California Chaparral."  FREMONITA, A Journal of the California Native Plant Society. p. 9).  See Heteromeles arbutifolia, for additional information on the subject.       Delfina Cuero, a Kumeyaay or Southern Diegueno Indian, made the following comments about Rhus integrifolia in her autobiography:  "The name used depended upon the berry color red (huusill) or orange (huutat); the berries were eaten fresh or soaked to flavor water; the seed (keha) was ground and used with fruit for tea.  We also ground the seeds to drink when sick and feverish.  The bark was also made into a tea to use after a baby was born."  (Shipek 95).       In California there are 6 species of Rhus.  (Robbins et al. 292).       The wood of these shrubs is of a dark-red color, which is responsible for the common name "mahogany".  (Parsons 209).     The Northern Diegueno Indians kept a wad of Rhus integrifolia leaves in their mouth to lessen thirst on long foot journeys.  (Campbell 141). 

Text Ref:  Abrams, Vol. III 51; Hickman, Ed. 135; Munz, Calif. Flora 998; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 64.

Photo Ref:  Dec 1 82 # 30 A; Jan 1 84 # 15; Feb 2 84 # 5.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.  

First Found:  December 1982.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 129.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 6/12/05.  

          December Photo                                                    February Photo