When I was in high school, I used to work at a greenhouse and nursery. During my time there, I was introduced to so many different plants, but one plant that always stuck out to me was the Tiger Eyes® sumac, or referred to by its common name, the cutleaf staghorn sumac. It is one of my favorite landscape shrubs.
The Tiger Eyes® sumac is unique as it has many striking characteristics. It is a staghorn sumac, which is native throughout the U.S. and is commonly found alongside ditches, woodland edges and in shelterbelts. Staghorn sumacs aren’t ideal as an ornamental, as they can grow up to 30 feet tall and will sucker rampantly.
Tiger Eyes® was released in 2004 by Bailey Nursery and became the perfect ornamental sumac. A nursery employee discovered a mutation of Laciniata sumac, which was