Rhus triloba or similar.

Thank you. I believe you are right. It seems to be growing out of it's regular territory.

I would argue with the common name Skunk Bush because the odor seems to me to be more medicinal than downright rotten.

It seems to be growing out of it's regular territory.

==>>> it most likely.. cant read ... and would beg to differ with some eggheads opinion of such ...

ken

Hi Rosemary, your comment about skunk bush got me to thinking. My copy of Gray's Manual calls it "Polecat Bush". I went and cut a branch of mine and crushed the foliage. It is not at all unpleasant, slightly herbal, but nothing like a skunk.

Here's a pic of my plant which originated in the shale barrens in western part of my state. In Maryland it occurs only in dry, rocky locations in its natural setting. It seems adaptable to other soils though. Rhus aromatica is a highly variable species, in my case no hair on the stems and good fall color. What kind of habit does your plant have?

I don't really own the plant. It is in the garden of a woman now deceased who my partner and I used to garden for. A lot of our clients are elderly and don't remember what was originally planted where. They also have lost a lot of interest in their gardens except they want no weeds, everything neat and the shrubs pruned below the windows. We are maintaining the garden for her family until the house is sold.

My partner worked on the garden before we joined forces and I assumed she knew what this shrub was, but when I asked she had no idea and said it had always been there. It grows like crazy, the limbs are smooth and it is always wider than it is high. I've never noticed any autumn color. The shape could be from the hard pruning, but I just think it's the way it grows because the horizontal branches have sometimes grown to lengths 6' between visits.

For some reason I've gotten fond of this shrub, weird smell and all. It always looks nice, even out of bounds. Deer don't eat it and in fact I don't think insects do either. I wouldn't mind having one. So, I thought I'd try and find out what it was before I had to say good bye forever.

I wonder how it got in this particular garden. It certainly is growing outside it's comfort zone.

There is a lot of limestone in this area and an old quarry not far from where this garden is. I wonder about that. Maybe there is some of the Rhus Aromatica growing there.

I just went and got my copy of "Native Plants of the Northeast" by Donald J Leopold. Rhus Aromatica was in there. Under Notes, he says he has seen this species growing from limestone bed rock in Northern New York. He also says it propagates easily from soft wood cuttings. hmmmm.

Thanks for the information. It is always so interesting to me when I learn about a new plant or shrub or weed. I think this shrub is perfect for the slope in the picture from NJ. It would be a perfect anti erosion plant.

Here's a link to a map for Rhus aromatica's locations. If you click on the map for R. aromatica it will enlarge. Dark green means it is both present and native in the state, and bright green means it's present and not rare in the county. Yellow is present but rare in a county.

Thanks for this. What a handy tool to have.

For a species this widespread you would think it would be more well known.

I googled "Gro Low". I had to laugh because it has been rechristened from skunk bush to "Fragrant Sumac".

After Japanese barberry, perhaps the "best" living garbage collector known to man!

I recently planted three R. a. 'Grow-Low' on a bank next to a towering White Pine. They get a couple hours sun during the early AM, but that's about it. It's very, very difficult to get anything to grow on this site. I'm going to find out just how tough this plant is.

Let us know!

Very tough. I'm kind of past this one, having dealt with it extensively decades ago. But for the right job, it's a good'n.

More 'Gro-Low' in the median strip. This one is becoming very popular and I see no negatives with it.