XXXIV. THE STAG'S HORN SUMACH. 501 



and are suitable to be left in the corners of fields and along 

 avenues. They are easily propagated by seed, and some of 

 them by cuttings of the branches. All the species are easily 

 propagated by cuttings of the roots. 



Sp. 1. The Stag's Horn Sumach. R. lyphina. L. 



This is a tall shrub, often becoming a small tree, sometimes 

 of the height of twenty -five feet, with a diameter of four or 

 rive inches, with irregular, crooked branches. In July and 

 August, the heads of fruit assume a rich scarlet or crimson 

 color, afterwards turning purple, and remain conspicuous and 

 beautiful into the winter, while, in autumn, the leaves begin 

 early to turn, and become of a red color with various shades of 

 yellow, orange and purple. The ends of the branches, from 

 their irregularity and the abundant down with which they are 

 covered, resemble the young horns of a stag, whence the name. 



The flowers are yellowish-green, in a broad, tapering, branch- 

 ed panicle, five to twelve inches long, the common and partial 

 stalks, like the leaf-stalks, clothed with a coarse, downy hair. 

 Calyx short, hairy, the segments pointed, erect. Petals thrice 

 as long, greenish-yellow, somewhat contracted at base, ovate, 

 rounded, concave, hairy within, reflected, except at the tip. 

 Stamens 5, short, erect, rising from the edge of a broad, orange 

 or scarlet disk ; anthers large, opening inwards, from top to 

 bottom. Pollen orange. Stigmas 3, on green styles, from the 

 centre of the disk. 



On the fertile plants, the stamens are usually wanting or very 

 minute, and 3 short, purple stigmas crown a velvety germ, 

 clothed abundantly with crimson hairs. The pinnate leaflets 

 are sessile, narrow, oblong-lanceolate, serrate, and terminate in 

 a long point. 



The wood is of a yellowish or greenish-yellow color, brittle, 

 but of a soft, satiny texture and close-grained. The pith, which 

 is abundant, is of a yellowish color. 



The leaves and bark are astringent and used in tanning, and 

 the root has been found efficacious in fevers. The juice is 

 milky and abundant, very adhesive, and turning black on ex- 

 posure to the air. 



