I have this bush growing along both fences in Glendale, Arizona. I don't give it any care, and it thrives. The plants were here before I purchased the house. Any idea what it is? No thorns, interesting red tips and stems, leaves are opposite one another.

I narrowed it down to possibly a sumac.

It could be Searsia lancea (syn. Rhus lancea).

Hmm, it may be (I'm not a Sumac expert by any means) but the ones I'm familiar with are bigger and have bright red fruits. I'm just curious if it fruits?

No fruits or flowers.

Sersia lancea has trifoliate leaves. This photo shows odd pinnate compound leaves that are alternate. I would love to know what this is but have not a clue. Still looking though.

Could be Rhus lanceolata (Prairie flameleaf sumac)? Could also be Rhus copallina..... I'll leave it alone and see if it gives berries in the Fall.

Does it drop it's leaves in fall? How tall is it? Do you trim it at all? What does the bottom of this look like. Is it a clump or one plant? Flowers/fruit would sure make it easier. The red stems don't match up with Rhus lanceolata and the leaves of Rhus copallina have flat "wings" between the leaflets all along the stem(rachis) of the leaf. Very interesting looking plant for sure.

Yes, it is deciduous. I took a closeup of the leaves and stem and it had the "wings". The leaves turn a deep red in the Fall. Sorry I haven't transferred the picture from my phone to upload. I had cut one of these plants back to the ground and left the woody stem last year and it came back with a vengeance.

My best guess is Rhus Copallina, but I won't know for sure until Fall when the berries appear, since they are so closely related.

"wings"



Tip:

I downloaded a plant ID program and inserted the image and it identified it as Rhus copallinum..Winged Sumac. Well, I think that's it! Very cool!