Anyone Ever Smoked Sumac?

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Dec 28, 2015
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The few encounters I have had with poison sumac have been horrible. Much much worse than poison ivy and poison oak. If the plant you are talking about is even kin to the one I am familiar with, I would avoid it at all cost.

I did however smoke rabbit tobacco when I was young with no adverse effects. Generally in a homemade corn cob pipe.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,397
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
The few encounters I have had with poison sumac have been horrible. Much much worse than poison ivy and poison oak. If the plant you are talking about is even kin to the one I am familiar with, I would avoid it at all cost.

I did however smoke rabbit tobacco when I was young with no adverse effects. Generally in a homemade corn cob pipe.
last time I got poison oak people thought I had gotten this serious burn. It was horrible looking.
 

telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
Someone is going to smoke it and if they smoke the poison sumac variety, I hope they have an ambulance waiting on call. The fumes are deadly to the lungs. My dining room table is covered in shellac from sumac. The operators who put the shellac on the table were covered in hazmat suits and had breathing filters. It took 60 days to complete the 30 coats. It is scary stuff to be around.
 

pantsBoots

Lifer
Jul 21, 2020
2,132
7,517
Terra Firma
When we bought this place in late '04, there was a small stand of Staghorn Sumac growing inside of a patch of bamboo some previous owner allowed to take root. The sumacs have since been choked off and killed by the bamboo, which I still haven't managed to eradicate.
Yeah, bamboo is extremely difficult to get rid of once it's established.

Quite a few varieties are edible. In the spring time, you boil the shoots twice (changing water in between) and it's like an artichoke with a never-ending heart. Good stuff! (Still won't grow it at my place because it's so damned invasive. I just get spring shoots from friends who are overrun with the stuff).
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,397
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I feel like sumac isn't going to be a substitute for pipes. Maybe for smoking but lots of things could do the same. It might be worth a try if you can find a good supply. But my experience says it's a step above smoking tea.
 

Scottmi

Lifer
Oct 15, 2022
3,064
40,863
Orcas, WA
The only Killikinnick I have ever heard of was a tobacco, described by Mark Twain around about 1865, in his "Answers to Correspondents:"
"INQUIRER" wishes to know which is the best brand of smoking tobacco, and how it is manufactured. The most popular – mind, I do not feel at liberty to give an opinion as to the best, and so I simply say the most popular – smoking tobacco is the miraculous conglomerate they call "Killikinick." It is composed of equal parts of tobacco stems, chopped straw, "old soldiers," fine shavings, oak leaves, dog-fennel, corn-shucks, sunflower petals, outside leaves of the cabbage plant, and any refuse of any description whatever that costs nothing and will burn. After the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together, they are run through a chopping-machine and soaked in a spittoon. The mass is then sprinkled with fragrant Scotch snuff, packed into various seductive shapes, labeled "Genuine Killikinick, from the old original manufactory at Richmond," and sold to consumers at a dollar a pound. The choicest brands contain a double portion of "old soldiers," and sell at a dollar and a half. "Genuine Turkish" tobacco contains a treble quantity of "old soldiers," and is worth two or three dollars, according to the amount of service the said "old soldiers" have previously seen. N. B. – This article is preferred by the Sultan of Turkey; his picture and autograph are on the label. Take a handful of "Killikinick," crush it as fine as you can, and examine it closely, and you will find that you can make as good an analysis of it as I have done; you must not expect to discover any particles of genuine tobacco by this rough method, however – to do that, it will be necessary to take your specimen to the mint and subject it to a fire-assay. A good article of cheap tobacco is now made of chopped pine-straw and Spanish moss; it contains one "old soldier" to the ton, and is called "Fine Old German Tobacco."
 

Mycroft9

Lurker
Apr 3, 2023
1
2
The red berried Staghorn Sumac is not poisonous and has many uses. I am smoking some right now in fact. On its own it can be harsh and burn hot, but a pinch of crushed dried red LEAVES added to any tobacco lends a mild citrus/berry flavour. The BERRIES of the staghorn cones can be used to make a "Lemonade" as noted above by soaking in water or boiling for tea. They have a tart citrus/rasperry flavour that is refreshing on its own but ideally needs a bit of sugar. The BRANCHES can even be hollowed to make a pipe stem. You should avoid any other variety - fortunately only Staghorn seems to grow where I live in Ontario.