Unless you live in the swamp, it is very unlikely you will ever cross poison sumac in your yard. Found in the Eastern United States, poison sumac grows as a wooded shrub that may look like a small tree (grows up to 20 ft.) located in very wet areas like swamps and peat bogs.

The number of leaflets found on poison sumac are always an odd number, typically ranging from 5-13 leaflets per stem, with a single leaf at the end of the stem. Poison sumac stems are red in the spring and become brown as the seasons change. Poison sumac also produces clusters of small berries that are not perfectly round (more oval in shape) and white or grey in color.