Lemonade Berry (Rhus trilobata). Various sumacs are used to make
refreshing
drinks that taste very similar to lemonade. The lemonade berry or lemonade
sumac or
lemita (from the Spanish limonita) is the most valued of them. A
many-stemmed, 18- to
36-inch-high, deciduous shrub with ill-scented, coarsely toothed,
trifolate leaflets and
greenish flowers in small spikes that bloom before the leaves expand, it
bears upright
clusters of attractive, hairy, red berries. Also called three-leaved
sumac, because of
its three leaflets, the lemonade bush is hardy from zone 3 southward,
grows in almost
any garden soil, even in dry or rocky ground, and is easily raised from
seed. Its
berries should be gathered during dry spells for the highest flavor. Other
close
relations used for the same purpose are the evergreen sourberry (Rhus
integrifolia) of
southern California; the evergreen sugar which is also called the lemonade
and sugar
tree; and the smoot suma (Rhus glabra). All are beautiful, fall foliage
plants for the
garden, turning a more brilliant red than even dogwoods. Poisonous sumac (Rhus
Vernix)
is one of the two serious contact poison plants in the United States (the
other is, of
course, poison ivy). It is a tall shrub with reddish twig found in swampy
places, with
7 to 13 leaflets and white fruits instead of red. Incidentaly, although
poison sumac
leaves are often gathered because they are rich in the tannin is so
important to the
tanning and dyeing industries (the USDA will send you information on how
tom make money
collecting the leaves). Lemonade made from crushing sumac berries in water
has to be
strained through cheesecloth to eliminate the fine hairs from the berries.
The amount
of sugar that must be added depends on the species used.
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