Sumac in the context of Iranian cuisine

A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the large leaves of cycads, as well as palms (Arecaceae) and various other flowering plants, such as mimosa or sumac. "Frond" is commonly used to identify a large, compound leaf, but if the term is used botanically to refer to the leaves of ferns and algae it may be applied to smaller and undivided leaves.

Fronds have particular terms describing their components. Like all leaves, fronds usually have a stalk connecting them to the main stem. In botany, this leaf stalk is generally called a petiole, but in regard to fronds specifically it is called a stipe, and it supports a flattened blade (which may be called a lamina), and the continuation of the stipe into this portion is called the rachis. The blades may be simple (undivided), pinnatifid (deeply incised, but not truly compound), pinnate (compound with the leaflets arranged along a rachis to resemble a feather), or further compound (subdivided). If compound, a frond may be compound once, twice, or more.

Toxicodendron is a genus of flowering plants in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It contains trees, shrubs and woody vines, including poison ivy, poison oak, and the lacquer tree. The best-known members of the genus in North America are eastern poison ivy (T. radicans) and western poison oak (T. diversilobum), both ubiquitous throughout much of their respective region.

All members of the genus produce the skin-irritating oil urushiol, which can cause a severe allergic reaction known as urushiol-induced contact dermatitis. The resins of certain species native to Japan, China and other Asian countries, such as lacquer tree (T. vernicifluum) and wax tree (T. succedaneum), are used to make lacquer, and, as a byproduct of lacquer manufacture, their berries are used to make japan wax.

Middle Eastern cuisine includes a number of cuisines from the Middle East. Common ingredients include olives and olive oil, pitas, honey, sesame seeds, dates, sumac, chickpeas, mint, rice and parsley, and popular dishes include kebabs, dolmas, falafel, baklava, yogurt, doner kebab, shawarma and mulukhiyah.

Murrī or almorí (in Andalusia) was a liquid condiment made using a fermented solid-state starter called budhaj that was made with barley flour or wheat flour, known from Maghrebi and Arab cuisines. Almost every substantial dish in medieval Arab cuisine used murrī in small quantities. It could be used as a substitute for salt or sumac, and has been compared to soy sauce by Rudolf Grewe, Charles Perry, and others due to its high glutamates content and resultant umami flavor.

The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce urushiol, an irritant. The Anacardiaceae include numerous genera, several of which are economically important, notably cashew (in the type genus Anacardium), mango, Chinese lacquer tree, yellow mombin, Peruvian pepper, sumac, smoke tree, marula, and cuachalalate. The genus Pistacia (which includes the pistachio and mastic tree) is now included, but was previously placed in its own family, the Pistaciaceae.

The cashew family is more abundant in warm or tropical regions, with only a few species living in the temperate zones. Mostly native to tropical Americas, Africa, and India. Pistacia and some species of Rhus can be found in southern Europe, Rhus species can be found in much of North America, and Schinus inhabits South America exclusively.

Toxicodendron radicans, commonly known as eastern poison ivy or poison ivy, is a species of allergenic flowering plant. It has numerous subtaxons and forms both vines and shrubs. Despite its common name, it is not a true ivy, but rather a member of the cashew and sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It is different from western poison ivy, Toxicodendron rydbergii, and resembles a number of species.

The species is found in North America. Although commonly eaten by animals, with birds consuming the seeds, T. radicans is considered a noxious weed. As a poison ivy, it causes urushiol-induced contact dermatitis in most people who touch it, producing an itchy, irritating, and sometimes painful rash.

Metopium or poisonwood is a genus of flowering plants in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. They are dioecious trees with poisonous sap that can induce contact dermatitis.

Japan wax (木蝋 Mokurō), also known as sumac wax, sumach wax, vegetable wax, China green tallow, and Japan tallow, is a pale-yellow, waxy, water-insoluble solid with a gummy feel, obtained from the berries of certain sumacs native to Japan and China, such as Toxicodendron vernicifluum (lacquer tree) and Toxicodendron succedaneum (Japanese wax tree).

Japan wax is a byproduct of lacquer manufacture. The fruits of the Toxicodendron trees are harvested, steamed, and pressed for the waxy substance which hardens when cool. It is not a true wax but a fat that contains 95% palmitin. Japan wax is sold in flat squares or disks and has a rancid odor. It is extracted by expression and heat, or by the action of solvents.

Gallic acid (also known as 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a trihydroxybenzoic acid with the formula C₆H₂(OH)₃CO₂H. It is classified as a phenolic acid. It is found in gallnuts, sumac, witch hazel, tea leaves, oak bark, and other plants. It is a white solid, although samples are typically brown owing to partial oxidation. Salts and esters of gallic acid are termed "gallates".

Its name is derived from oak galls, which were historically used to prepare tannic acid. Despite the name, gallic acid does not contain gallium.