500 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



in Europe and several in North America, and this is the only 

 genus yet found in Massachusetts. 



THE SUMACH. RHUS. L. 



A genus of about eighty species of shrubs or small trees, 

 found in temperate regions and near the tropics, on both conti- 

 nents, particularly in China and Japan, at the Cape of Good 

 Hope and in the United States. Their leaves are simple, ter- 

 nate, or unequally pinnate ; and their flowers, which are small, 

 but frequently form large, showy spikes, are either perfect, or, 

 more often, sterile and fertile on different plants. They have 5, 

 small, persistent sepals, united at base; 5 ovate petals; 5, rarely 

 10, equal stamens; 1 or 3 styles; 3 stigmas. The fruit is a 

 drupe, almost dry, often richly colored, with a bony, 1-celled 

 nut, and a solitary seed. 



Several species of sumach have a milky, poisonous juice, 

 turning black, on exposure to air, and forming sometimes a 

 varnish, sometimes an ingredient for indelible ink. A Euro- 

 pean species, the Tanner's Sumach, R. coriaria, is valuable to 

 the tanner, as is our common Stag's Horn Sumach. 



Most of the species exhale a terebinthine odor when rubbed. 

 Several of them contain an acrid juice, which causes painful 

 eruptions. The precious varnish of Japan is said to be made 

 from the juice of the Varnish Sumach, R. vernicifera, of that 

 country. 



Besides the native species hereafter described, the Venetian 

 Sumach, R. colinus, commonly called Smoke-tree, is much cul- 

 tivated as a curious and beautiful plant. In Greece and Russia, 

 it is used for tanning and for dyeing a rich, beautiful yellow, 

 and in Italy, about Venice, for dyeing black, and also for tan- 

 ning leather. 



The Sumachs are much cultivated for their singularity, and 

 the beauty of the foliage, especially in autumn, when it assumes 

 the richest colors. The most elegant species cannot be safely 

 admitted into gardens, on account of their poisonous qualities. 

 The Dwarf Sumach deserves more attention than it has re- 

 ceived. The larger species make a fine show at a distance, 



