286 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



teen leaflets, which are about three inches lona:. The small e^reen 

 flowers are arranged in ■ axillary panicles. The fruit is greenish 

 yelloW; about the size of peas. 



This plant is even more poisonous than its near relative, the 

 Rhus Toxicodendron, described on page 249, and should therefore 

 be known. It is sometimes called Poison Elder, and Poison Dog- 

 wood. Many persons are badly poisoned even by standing in the 

 immediate vicinity of this plant, as its pernicious effluvium taints 

 the air to some distance around. If it occurs on one's premises, a 

 person who is not affected by its properties should be engaged to 

 eradicate it, root and branch. 



2. Common Sumach — Bhus lyphina. Is a common species, on dry 

 rock}^ hills and around the borders of rocky fields. The young- 

 branches are thick and densely clothed with soft velvety hairs, 

 and have a slight resemblance to young stag's horns, whence the 

 plant is sometimes called Stag's-horn Sumach. The leaves are one 

 to three feet long, divided into from eleven to thirty-one leaflets. 

 The berries — or more properly drupes — are in a dense cluster, cov- 

 ered with very acid crimson down. It is a plant to be eradicated 

 from the field-borders, as its prevalence imparts a neglected ap- 

 pearance to the premises, and the roots, which creep extensively 

 and send up numerous suckers, are really troublesome. 



3. ITardhack — Steeple-Bush — Spircea tomentosa. This well 

 known shrub is frequently very abundant in dry rocky pastures, 

 and by the roadsides. The light purple or rose-colored flowers are 

 very numerous, forming a slender pyramidal cluster of considerable 

 beauty. If it was extirpated from the field-borders and pastures, 

 where it may be considered a weed, and found only in the gardens 

 where it is truly an attractive shrub, it would be a decided change 

 for the better. "This plant possesses considerable astriiigency, 

 and is in common use in New England as a domestic remedy in 

 diarrhoea and other complaints where astringents are required." — 

 ( Thurber. ) 



Anotlier species of Spiraea — Spircea salicifolia — having white 

 flowers, in a more or less spreading panicle, is more common along 

 the borders of low fields and in meadows. 



4. Common Ihnn Blackberry — Bramble — liubus viUosus. A 

 common shrub along the borders of fields and on newly cleared 

 lands. In the former situation it is often very troublesome, 

 spreading extensively by its large creeping roots, which send up 



