Habitat
- native to Canada down through the United States
- zone 4
Habit
and Form
- a large open shrub or weedy tree
- flat-topped crown
- colonizes and suckers
- 15' to 25' tall
- spread si difficult to determine because it colonizes
- coarse texture
- fast growth rate
Summer
Foliage
- alternate leaf arrangement
- pinnately compound leaves
- leafs are 1 to 2 feet long
- 13 to 27 leaflets
- each leaflet is lanceolate in shape, 2" to 5" long
- leaflets have a serrated margin
- leaf rachis is long and hairy
Autumn
Foliage
- yellow, orange to red fall color
- very showy
Flowers
- dioecious
- borne in large hairy panicles
- male flower head larger than female
- blooms in June
Fruit
- crimson, pyramidal panicle of seeds
- matures in late August
- persists
Bark
- extremely hairy stems
- concealed lenticels
- stout stems
- aromatic
- older stems are not pubescent
Culture
- easily transplanted
- soil adaptable
- suckers
- full sun to partial shade
Landscape
Use
- massing
- woods edge
- naturalistic areas
- bank covers
Liabilities
- Verticillium Wilt
- aphids, scales, rusts and mites
ID
Features
- greenish yellow flowers
- red fruit spikes
- alternate pinnately compound leaves
- c-shaped leaf scars
- extreme pubescence on leaves and branches
- stout stems
- concealed lenticels
Propagation
Cultivars/Varieties
'Dissecta' - This is a cut-leaf form with more deeply divided leaflets
than 'Laciniata'. It is a female form with red fruit and brilliant red fall
color. It is difficult to distinguish from 'Laciniata' unless both are present
together, plus the two forms are confused in the trade.
'Laciniata' - This is a fine-textured form cultivated in large-scale
naturalistic gardens. The leaflets are divided to create this airy feel, though
the dissection is supposedly less extreme than 'Dissecta'. They are confused
in the trade, though fairly common at specialty nurseries.
