It’s a pity that we can’t enjoy watching autumnal foliage in Amami. Instead, hills and fields are dotted with red leaves of Sumac (Rhus succedanea) trees in winter. It looks like the colder winter we have, the redder the leaves become.

Since the Sumac belongs to the cashew family, you should be careful not to touch the tree sap or the tree itself with bare hands. You can easily get lacquer poisoning. Some people are so sensitive that they get poisoning by just standing under a Sumac tree.

It is said that wax is extracted from its epicarp (fruit skin) and dyestuff is produced from the bark. I hear planting Sumac trees was encouraged before World War II, to increase wax production.