For poison sumac, see Toxicodendron vernix. The taxonomy of Rhus has a long history, with de Candolle proposing a subgeneric classification with 5 how long does sumac spice last for in 1825.
At its largest circumscription, Rhus, with over 250 species, has been the largest genus in the family Anacardiaceae. The dried fruits of some species are ground to produce a tangy, crimson spice popular in many countries. Rhus coriaria are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a tart, lemony taste to salads or meat. During medieval times, primarily from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, appeared in cookbooks frequently used by the affluent in Western Europe. One dish in particular called sumāqiyya, a stew made from sumac, was frequently anglicized as “somacchia” by Europeans.
The leaves and bark of most sumac species contain high levels of tannins and have been used in the manufacturing of leather by many cultures around the world. The Hebrew name og ha-bursaka’im means “tanner’s sumac”, as does the Latin name of R. The dyeing property of sumac needed to be considered when it was shipped as a fine floury substance in sacks as a light cargo accompanying heavy cargoes such as marble. Sumac was especially dangerous to marble: “When sumac dust settles on white marble, the result is not immediately apparent, but if it once becomes wet, or even damp, it becomes a powerful purple dye, which penetrates the marble to an extraordinary depth. An 11th-century shipwreck off the coast of Rhodes, excavated by archeologists in the 1970s, contained commercial quantities of sumac drupes. Some beekeepers use dried sumac bobs as a source of fuel for their smokers.
Sumac stems also have a soft pith in the center that is easily removed to make them useful in traditional Native American pipemaking. They were commonly used as pipe stems in the northern United States. Dried sumac wood fluoresces under long-wave ultraviolet radiation. Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure, since the wood is springy, resulting in jagged, sharp-pointed stumps when mown.