Sumac Please READ this discussion before you respond. Thank you.

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Some plants/trees/bushes/shrubs are poisonous for most people to touch: Poison Ivy Poison Oak Poison Sumac (White Sumac) Many have NON-poisonous relatives or similarly named plants/trees/bushes/shrubs that most people can touch: Ground Ivy, houseplants that are Ivy White Oak, Red Oak Red or Smooth Sumac, Staghorn Sumac This discussion is about Sumac that is used as a drink or used to flavor food. The above are NOT all inclusive, but illustrate my point. Many people know there are non-poisonous ivies and oaks, but when I talk about sumac, I get people who do not want to entertain any notion that there might be non-poisonous to touch and even parts of it that might be used for a varitey of things. To find out what the different ones look like, wikipedia has United States Government pictures of each one of the sumacs listed above. Depending on the sumac: it can be used to create a drink often called sumacade because it's often tart. it can be used to flavor food and is often in Middle Eastern cooking and often in a spice called zatar or za'tar. It can be made into gelatin. Youtube has many tutorials about sumac including making sumacade by the hot method, cold method, bruising method, non-brusing method, etc. I was happy to learn that some people use it for landscaping. Also that my joke "the North Country Palm" tree is not really a joke. People do shape them for that. Flutes were a big surprise to me. I had heard years ago that they were used for tanning, but now I read that they can also be a dye that doesn't need mordant (a fixative so the dye doesn't run). My brother used it for a bow and I was surprised that one youtube person has made flutes with them. I think the branches would make good antlers for a costume. They're soft and furry. They branch out and could be cut to look the antler part. The berries or staghorn might make a neat read nose. So have you ever heard of sumac? Did you only hear it was poisonous? Have you ever made sumacade? Which method did you use? Did you like it? Have you ever done or made anything else with it? If you had never heard that it was useable, will you try to use some in the future? It's past now in my area. Usually up here we harvest it in August and September. But some late years early October it might still be good. I made sumacade 2xs in my life. Once it was very bland and the next time it was too acidic. But I had only read about the hot methods.I might like the cold one better next time.