1. common nonpoisonous shrub of eastern North America with waxy compound leaves and green paniculate flowers followed by red berries • Syn: smooth sumac, scarlet sumac, Rhus glabra • Hypernyms: sumac, sumach, shumac 2. deciduous shrubby tree or eastern North America with compound leaves that turn brilliant red in fall and dense panicles of greenish yellow flowers followed by crimson acidic berries • Syn: staghorn sumac, velvet sumac, Virginian sumac, Rhus typhina • Hypernyms: sumac, sumach, shumac