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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Littleleaf Sumac

Rhus microphylla
native · Hill Country

Littleleaf Sumac is a tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 4–8 ft tall and 20 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white in spring. Good for birds and small mammals.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

4 sources
Type
Tree
Sun
Full sun to part shade (3–7 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Low
Height
4–8 ft
Spread
20 ft
Bloom
Spring · white
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, dry, gravelly, limestone, sand, well drained
Wildlife
Supports birds, browsing mammals and small mammals

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau Woodland

29 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.