CASHEW FAMILY 



ANACARDIACE^) CASHEW FAMILY 



Rhus Toxicodendron, L. 



Whitish-green Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, 



Poison Creeper, Black Mercury, 



May- June Poison Vine, Climbing Ivy, 



Climath, Mark-weed, 



Markry, Pickry, 



Mercury Vine, Three-leaved Ivy 

 Poison Ash, 



Rhui: for derivation see copallina. 

 Toxicondendron: from Greek for arrow-poison. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: along fences, through thickets, 

 over the Commons, and in pure beach sand. 



THE VINE: sometimes climbs by numerous aerial rootlets 

 and then waves freely in the wind, sometimes it is half 

 erect or even fully erect and shrub-like; the stem, occasion- 

 ally two inches to three inches in diameter, very much 

 branched, woody, and hairless. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; palmately three-divided; variable, 

 but typically acute or tapering quickly to a point at the 

 apex; narrow or wedge-shaped at the base; above shiny, 

 with short, soft hairs or smooth; beneath more or less 

 covered with short, soft rusty hairs; entire or coarsely 

 round-toothed, or sometimes essentially entire. 



THE FLOWERS: very small, in loose axillary panicles, which 

 are from one to three inches in length. 



THE FRUIT: whitish or cream-coloured, usually globose 

 and covered with short, soft hairs; like all the other parts 

 of this plant, the fruit is very poisonous. 



A beautiful vine growing profusely along fences, clamber- 

 ing over bushes, or spreading in the dry beach sand 



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