Herb: Sugar Bush


Latin name: Rhus ovata


Family: Anacardiaceae (Cashew Family, Sumac Family)



Medicinal use of Sugar Bush:

An infusion of the leaves has been used in the treatment of chest pains, coughs and colds. An infusion has also been taken just before giving birth to facilitate an easy delivery. Some caution is advised in the use of the leaves and stems of this plant, see the notes above on toxicity.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Evergreen
Shrub

Height:
2 m
(6 1/2 foot)

Habitat of the herb:

Dry rocky slopes below 800 metres, usually away from the coast, in California. Grows in oak woodlands and chaparral.

Edible parts of Sugar Bush:

Fruit - raw or cooked. Slightly acid to sweet tasting. The fruit is only 6 - 8mm in diameter with very little flesh, but it is produced in dense racemes and so is easily harvested. When soaked for 10 - 30 minutes in hot or cold water it makes a very refreshing lemonade-like drink (without any fizz of course). The fruit can also be sucked for the tart juice that forms on its surface. A sweetish white sap exudes from the fruit and can be used as an acid flavouring or a sugar substitute. The leaves are boiled to make a tea.

Other uses of the herb:

The leaves are rich in tannin. They can be collected as they fall in the autumn and used as a brown dye or as a mordant. An oil is extracted from the seeds. It attains a tallow-like consistency on standing and is used to make candles. These burn brilliantly, though they emit a pungent smoke. Often planted in poor dry soils in America, where its extensive root system helps to prevent erosion.

Propagation of Sugar Bush:

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Pre-soak the seed for 24 hours in hot water (starting at a temperature of 80 - 90c and allowing it to cool) prior to sowing in order to leach out any germination inhibitors. This soak water can be drunk and has a delicious lemon-flavour. The stored seed also needs hot water treatment and can be sown in early spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 10cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Root cuttings 4cm long taken in December and potted up vertically in a greenhouse. Good percentage. Suckers in late autumn to winter.

Cultivation of the herb:

Dry rocky slopes below 800 metres, usually away from the coast, in California. Grows in oak woodlands and chaparral.

Known hazards of Rhus ovata:

There are some suggestions that the sap of this species can cause a skin rash in susceptible people, but this has not been substantiated. See also notes in 'Cultivation Details'.

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.